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New report on strike trends in 2023 shows more wildcat strikes than protected strikes; workers striking mainly for permanent jobs and over wage issues

29/04/2024
Publication: CWAO
Author: CWAO

The CWAO released its latest Strike Barometer this morning. The Strike Barometer covers strikes between 1 January and 31 December 2023.

Please click here to view the Strike Barometer: http://cwao.org.za/Strike-Barometer/2023/index.html

Contact person: CWAO Education Officer Sydney Moshoaliba on 072 509 3587 or 062 1660997

Inside the report: There were 83 strikes in 2023, a slight decrease over the 86 strikes we documented in 2022. This continues the pattern of a relatively low number of strikes annually since the 165 strikes of 2018.

Forty-one of the 83 strikes occurred in the public sector. This figure excludes at least seven strikes at hospitals, universities, private companies contracted by municipalities, and institutions such as Productivity SA and the State Information Technology Agency.

Fifty of the strikes (60.24%) were wildcat and 33 (40.2%) were protected strikes. Seventeen workplace-related actions were recorded in addition to the 83 strikes.

The number of wildcat strikes in 2023 is likely significantly higher than the 50 identified by CWAO because these strikes are not as readily reported. Wildcat strikes have been significantly higher than protected strikes since 2018, according to the Department of Employment and Labour’s annual industrial reports.

Fifty-one of the strikes (61.45%) were wage-related. Eighteen of the 51 strikes were directly related to unpaid wages or overtime. When deductions to medical aid or provident funds are made but not paid over by the employer, and short and late wage payments are included, this figure rises to 24 or 47% of all wage strikes. Most of the 24 strikes occurred in the public sector, 11 at the municipal level.

Twenty strikes (24.1%) involved demands for permanent jobs, extensions to contracts, an end to outsourcing, and an end to flexible working conditions. Nineteen of the 20 strikes occurred in the public sector, led mainly by EPWP, security guards, community works programme, presidential employment programme, and community health workers.

The CWAO also keeps a live, online strike Barometer here which has updated information from 2024: https://statistics.cwao.org.za/

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Category: PRESS RELEASE | DISPUTES