Update: 27 January 18:32 – the bosses have flown down from Jo’burg to negotiate with the strikers and the strike has been suspended while the negotiations are ongoing. So far things are looking very positive.
150 contract workers at National Print, in Westmead, Pinetown, have walked off the job. The night shift workers will also refuse to work tonight.
The contract workers have decided to go on strike in protest at the attempt by the CEO to suddenly reduce their working hours and, therefore, their income. January is the month when poor families struggle to pay school fees and to buy school uniforms, books and stationery. This is a very bad time for people to suddenly lose most of their income.
About 70% of the contact workers at National Print are shack dwellers, most from the Abahlali baseMjondolo strongholds of Motala Heights, New Maus and Mpola. We have successfully resisted eviction from our settlements and we will also resist eviction from our workplaces.
The economy is in crisis due to the extreme greed of the rich. We have worked hard and done our work well. We are not to blame for the crisis. It is common sense that no one should take more than they need for themselves and their family. It is also common sense that no one should be able to take less than they need for themselves and their family. Everyone in this world has a right to a decent income.
For comment from the scene of the strike contact Lindo (AbM Youth League and National Print Worker) on 074 460 5806.
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BREAKING NEWS
The strikers at National Print in Westmead, Pinetown, are currently under police attack. Rubber bullets and stun grenades have been fired. It is too early to determine if the police have also used live ammunition or how many people have been injured.
For more information contact Lindo at 074 460 5806
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Update on the National Print Strike
Twenty of the strikers at National Print in Westmead, Pinetown, were injured by the police yesterday. Some of the strikers who fled the police attack at the factory gates in Westmead were later accosted by the police in central Pinetown and viciously assaulted there.
The strike continues.
For more information contact Lindo at 074 460 5806