Staff at the embattled Durban University of Technology will continue with industrial action despite the commencement of lectures being less than a week away.
The staff strike entered its third week on Mondayā following an impasse between employees and management over salary increases for 2018.
Three unions – including the National Educationā Health and Allied Workersā Unionā the Tertiary Education National Union of South Africa and the National Tertiary Education Union – urged staff not to return to work until management conceded to its demands. Lecturers are due to start on February 5.
They have also called for vice-chancellor Thandwa Mthembu to step downā claiming they have no confidence in his leadership.
University management say that student debt and rising infrastructure costs make it unfeasible to meet union demands – including a 10% wage increase.
The university wants a professional mediator to take negotiations forwardā claiming that the process was toxic.
Milton Estriceā spokesman for the staff-representative DUT crisis committeeā said the strike remained indefiniteā āuntil management comes back to the negotiating tableā.
āThe 10% was a demand and it needed to be negotiated. We canāt negotiate if we canāt meet. Weāve been told that the other universities have concluded their negotiations.
āThe 6% for DUT staff was not a negotiated offer. DUT management was never open to negotiationsā they came with a fixed mandate all the time. We have to continue with the strikeā we have no other option.
āManagement may say its business as usualā but if you have more than 60 to 70% of staff on strikeā itās going to have an impact on operationsāā said Estrice.
