Strikers

During our time here numerous sectors have gone on strike. I assumed it was in part due to the trump card these sectors held with the upcoming 2010 World Cup. South Africa is oozing over with 2010 pride and excitement. A single night would not go by without having TV commercials on, a car trip won't pass without seeing 2010 advertisements and the first thing you see leaving the airport is a large count down of days till 2010. South Africa is beaming about this honor. The second strike we experienced was the World Cup stadium workers. One of the nine stadiums in the country, The Green Point Stadium, is located 6 minutes from our apartment. The Green Point stadium workers showed up daily to protest and walk down the main road. Harmless and impressive to watch. They protest their salaries, if you could call it that. They make the tiny amount of $2 a day. 

When we got here the doctors were on strike. Doctors here make less than teachers, they protested. (Now that's something to think about- why are the salaries of doctors and teachers always compared to each other as justification of poor salaries?) We worked one night in the ER during the strike. It was eerie to walk in, there was only two patients inside when normally there would be at least twenty-two. Doctors during the strike would either not come to work, or in the case of the ER where doctors could not be absent, they would only treat immediate emergencies. During the negotiations, a caller called into the local radio station and said not to buy in to the promises in the negotiations. That, for instance, officials were promising a 12% salary increase to doctors, but in the fine print they would also be given a 34% tax increase on any overtime or they could also lose part of their benefits. So in the end it was a wash. Tricky tricky!

Since then, the municipal works have gone on strike: those workers responsible for service delivery (i.e. garbage collector). And in the news today the telecommunication workers are striking. 

At least 4 sectors in 6 weeks! Here's to your 2010 trump card, hope it lasts post 2010.....