NEDBANK STRIKE COSTS

Sir,

I have been watching and following the Nedbank strike with some interest. My concern is the cost of the strike to the employees and how they seem unaware that they are being led down a wrong path. Let us do some simple math. Assume (for ease of calculation) a Nedbank employee earns E10 000 per month, which is E120 000 per year and E2 308 per week. One week of no pay equals E2 308 divided by E120 000 = 1.92 per cent of annual pay lost for each week on strike.

So for five weeks of no pay, the entire 10 per cent they are on strike for has been lost. This is a fact. Even if Nedbank gives in today, the employees have an effective zero per cent increase for the year.
I assume that the average Nedbank employee is reasonably well educated and deals with figures on a daily basis and this simple math should be evident; but clearly it is not. People should have settled for inflation at seven per cent and would have been much better off. Now they need a settlement of 17 per cent today to get that result, and it gets worse with each passing week.

We now hear talk of soliciting non-related institutions’ banking staff to go on a sympathy strike; an unprotected strike. That means their employers can just dismiss them with no recourse. I wonder if this will be in the interests of those other banking employees. The Nedbank employees can go back to their jobs but the other bank staff would really be jeopardising the livelihoods of their families.
Where has this leadership come from or do they have another agenda? Clearly the welfare of their members is the last thing on their minds. Can someone please enlighten us to what is going on?

Themba Maziya

NOTE: In an effort to afford them the right to reply this letter was emailed to SUFIAW and a follow-up call was made but unfortunately there has been no response as per their promise.

Ed

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