More than 60 former Iriss Security Solutions’ workers who say they haven’t been paid in full for the past two months protested outside the company’s offices in Mandalay yesterday.
Barbara Maregele
News | 25 July 2014
Official statistics note that South African household borrowings have declined slightly. However, we remain a nation wallowing in debt. And this applies from the government down to the humblest of families.
Terry Bell
Opinion | 21 July 2014
Over 100 refugees and asylum seekers have lost their jobs in Cape Town’s security industry, following enforcement of a 2002 regulation.
Tariro Washinyira
News | 18 July 2014
Recent articles in GroundUp by Gilad Isaacs on the conclusions to be drawn from the long platinum strike have prompted a vigorous debate about the nature of inequality in South Africa. Here economist Mike Schussler argues that demands for higher wages will lead to more inequality, not less.
Mike Schussler
Opinion | 15 July 2014
On Saturday, 12 July, COSATU held a demonstration at Cape Town Station to demand improved train service and that Metrorail lower fares to the same as before the recent ticket price increase.
Joy Shan
News | 14 July 2014
“The misery of people here is very great, with beggars innumerable and increasing every day....pigs and calves live better than they.” That rhyming comment could apply to the legions of the poor in many parts of the world today. And South Africa is no exception.
Terry Bell
Opinion | 14 July 2014
A Delft South community health worker (CHW) had no choice, but to take two weeks unpaid leave after sustaining a serious back injury while bathing a patient earlier this year.
Barbara Maregele
News | 9 July 2014
There seems to be renewed confidence and determination abroad among organised workers at rank and file level. Increasingly, there are fresh demands for a “living wage”, for the historic wage gap to be closed, and for the voices of the members to be heard.
Terry Bell
Opinion | 7 July 2014
Over 4,000 National Union of Metal Workers of South Africa (NUMSA) workers stopped working and hit the streets of Cape Town city centre to demand a 12% wage increase effective from today.
Thembela Ntongana and Zintle Swana
Brief | 1 July 2014
The timing, duration and intensity of the long strike on the platinum belt were fuelled by a familiar South African problem: persistent and very high inequality.
Gilad Isaacs
Opinion | 1 July 2014
Gilad Isaacs underestimates the scale of AMCU's victory. His analysis offers an indicator of winner/loser based on contrasting the final settlement with the initial demand and initial offer. But this is arbitrary.
Peter Alexander
Opinion | 30 June 2014
Every morning at the TCI Apparel factory in Epping, shop steward Mymoena Williams writes down the names of the textile workers who arrive late. In this notebook are entire pages filled with employees being late for the same reason: the trains.
Joy Shan
News | 30 June 2014
The South African economy is facing a rocky period. But don’t blame the platinum strike or the union or workers involved. That labour dispute was a symptom, not the cause, of problems that had developed outside of the control of the workers.
Terry Bell
Opinion | 30 June 2014
After the historic five-month long platinum strike, mineworkers and corporate executives are retreating to their tin shacks and BMWs respectively. The country is left wondering: who won?
What the increases mean for the lives of the workers and the fortunes of the platinum producers is difficult to quantify. However, it is possible to compare the implications – for workers and company costs – of the various offers, demands and the final settlement.
Gilad Isaacs
Analysis | 26 June 2014
The platinum strike has correctly been categorised as a national crisis, but it is only one aspect of a much more severe crisis that confronts the country. This was highlighted on Tuesday by President Jacob Zuma in his State of the Nation (SoNA) address in which he stressed the economy.
Terry Bell
Opinion | 23 June 2014