Children were the frontline victims of Tuesday’s strike action and this cannot be tolerated. Our libraries should be safe and peaceful spaces that promote the expansion of knowledge through reading. Our libraries should not be the battleground for labour disputes between the municipality and staff which place our children at risk.
The ongoing strike action in the Libraries sub-directorate has been brewing for years as Council has failed to implement the TASK job evaluation system designed to consistently grade all municipal staff throughout the municipality. TASK, which stands for the Tuned Assessment of Skills and Knowledge, has been endorsed by SALGA and implemented throughout the country to great effect. The DA has been calling for the implementation of TASK for years in order to address the concerns of labour and ensure that staff are graded and paid according to their skills, knowledge and experience.
The current irresponsible and ad hoc approach of re grading staff by four notches has serious financial implications for the Municipality and sets a worrying precedent that could lead to further labour instability across the Metro.
With the national literacy spotlight on Nelson Mandela Bay for National Book Week the current labour unrest is an embarrassment to the people of the Metro and an indictment on the Provincial Government and Municipality.
MEC Tom must now enforce her mandate and act decisively to restore order to our libraries and unlock the doors to opportunity through reading.
Closing the doors of our libraries closes the doors to opportunities for our children. This situation would not be tolerated in a DA led government as we believe that children are the foundation of our future and that opportunity should be expanded, not contracted.
Andrew Whitfield
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