Catherwood LibraryILR School

The Congress of South African Trade Unions, which represents around 2 million workers, has called upon all of its affiliates to strike on September 2, in an effort to shut down the economy and send a message to the government. About 1.3 million public workers began a strike on August 18, after rejecting a government pay offer of a 7% pay increase. The government says that it cannot afford the pay increase, but unions say that they should cut luxuries to pay their workers. More than 70 people have been arrested for violence, disrupting traffic and blocking hospital entrances, where the military is administering health care. Unions say that they are urging their members to hold peaceful demonstrations, and that there is no reason for the police to shoot rubber bullets at the protesters. The unions have called for the government to come up with a better wage offer so that the strike can come to an end.