Unions give Rhodes ultimatum

MEMBERS of the two higher education unions at Rhodes University turned out in force yesterday, warning that the university must take their demands seriously “or else”.

About 500 members of the univers National Education, Health and Allied Workers’ Union (Nehawu) and the National Tertiary Education Union (NTEU) marched on Rhodes University administration where each of them presented management with a memorandum of demands.

Both unions earlier this month notified the university of industrial action after negotiations for annual salary increases deadlocked.

At the time of the deadlock, Rhodes was offering a 5% salary increase while the two unions are demanding 7.5%.

They have listed dozens of other demands, one of them Nehawu’s call for the university to be renamed, preferably after a woman who everyone could identify with. It said that all Rhodes workers and their children should get 100% bursaries from Rhodes; that inflation be used as a standard for future wage negotiations, that employment equity reports be made public and departments not meeting them be “named and shamed”.

Deputy vice-chancellor Peter Clayton, who accepted the memorandums, said management would like to resume formal negotiations with both unions.