AN AGREEMENT had still not been signed by parties negotiating a settlement in the Walter Sisulu University (WSU) strike late yesterday.
However, talks to craft a settlement were ongoing.
Labour unions and management had confirmed to the Daily Dispatch that a deal was expected to be signed by 2pm yesterday but several outstanding issues were said to have caused a delay.
WSU spokeswoman Angela Church said these included the terminology used in the settlement.
“There’s nothing to update you on at this stage,” said Church yesterday afternoon. “But, soon the agreement will be signed.”
Church said details of the settlement would only be shared once the deal had been signed.
Attempts made to get a comment from the National Education, Health and Allied Worker’s Union provincial secretary Xolani Malamlela were unsuccessful.
Church said students were slowly returning to the university while Institutional Student Representative Council president Ngobe Lali said the majority of students were back.
There’s nothing to update you on at this stage
“There are talks that classes are going to start today but still no agreement signed as yet,” said Lali. “We just hope that everything will be resolved.”
The university sent out a statement on Sunday announcing that classes would resume today and urged students and staff to return.
The university also said the academic calendar would be re-aligned to ensure there were sufficient teaching days available.
The university has 21000 students and the majority of the 1800 staffers had gone on strike for almost seven weeks.
Staff demanded a salary increase from 8% to 10%, while the university only offered 4.25%.
Other labour demands include the harmonisation of conditions of service and benefits, leave buy-out and permanent employment of contract workers.
The Department of Higher Education and Training (DHET) finally responded to the WSU impasse late on Friday.
In a statement, ministry spokeswoman Nomonde Mbadi said: “We commend university management and the unions for demonstrating leadership by ensuring that the decisions made, take into consideration the long-term viability of the university and do not threaten the significant gains made over the past two years.”
Mbadi said the ministry hoped efforts would be made to ensure the academic year was not lost and that students would be assisted in catching up on lost time.
“DHET has been engaged with various stakeholders in trying to find solutions to the challenges that resulted in the strike by university staff,” the spokeswoman said.
Uncertainty over WSU wage deal
However, talks to craft a settlement were ongoing.
Labour unions and management had confirmed to the Daily Dispatch that a deal was expected to be signed by 2pm yesterday but several outstanding issues were said to have caused a delay.
WSU spokeswoman Angela Church said these included the terminology used in the settlement.
“There’s nothing to update you on at this stage,” said Church yesterday afternoon. “But, soon the agreement will be signed.”
Church said details of the settlement would only be shared once the deal had been signed.
Attempts made to get a comment from the National Education, Health and Allied Worker’s Union provincial secretary Xolani Malamlela were unsuccessful.
Church said students were slowly returning to the university while Institutional Student Representative Council president Ngobe Lali said the majority of students were back.
There’s nothing to update you on at this stage
“There are talks that classes are going to start today but still no agreement signed as yet,” said Lali. “We just hope that everything will be resolved.”
The university sent out a statement on Sunday announcing that classes would resume today and urged students and staff to return.
The university also said the academic calendar would be re-aligned to ensure there were sufficient teaching days available.
The university has 21000 students and the majority of the 1800 staffers had gone on strike for almost seven weeks.
Staff demanded a salary increase from 8% to 10%, while the university only offered 4.25%.
Other labour demands include the harmonisation of conditions of service and benefits, leave buy-out and permanent employment of contract workers.
The Department of Higher Education and Training (DHET) finally responded to the WSU impasse late on Friday.
In a statement, ministry spokeswoman Nomonde Mbadi said: “We commend university management and the unions for demonstrating leadership by ensuring that the decisions made, take into consideration the long-term viability of the university and do not threaten the significant gains made over the past two years.”
Mbadi said the ministry hoped efforts would be made to ensure the academic year was not lost and that students would be assisted in catching up on lost time.
“DHET has been engaged with various stakeholders in trying to find solutions to the challenges that resulted in the strike by university staff,” the spokeswoman said.
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