DUT wage resolution talks to resume today

DEPUTY Higher Education Minister Buti Manamela said negotiations would resume between Durban University of Technology (DUT) management and staff unions today.

Striking workers, including academics, were locked out of the campus on Monday following a wage dispute with management that has now entered its seventh week.

In the middle of this month, the university suspended all academic programmes until further notice due to the impasse. It also implemented “no work, no pay” for striking employees.

Manamela said those involved had agreed to resume negotiations to reactivate the bargaining process.

Manamela, who had flown down yesterday morning to negotiate with management and unions, said all parties had further agreed to conclude the negotiation process and it was hoped that within the course of the week academic and administrative work would resume.

“The union will be giving report backs to members and as soon as tomorrow, negotiations will resume and by the end of the week we need to be seeing our kids back in classes,” he said.

A “trust building exercise” would still be needed among the parties, he said, but it was urgent that academic work resumed.

Manamela said the Higher Education Department could only intervene with the agreement of all involved parties. – African News Agency (ANA)