‘No work, no pay,’ MUT tells protesting staff

THE Mangosuthu University of Technology management said the “no work, no pay” principle would apply to staff who had embarked on a protest since Monday.

Workers, led by the National Education, Health and Allied Workers’ Union (Nehawu), embarked on a protest after they objected to the delay in the implementation of their settlement agreement with management.

Yesterday, the university confirmed that it woke up to the news of burning tyres and broken bottles at the campus entrances, with the protesters threatening to prevent staff, who are not on strike, from accessing the campus. The protest is over salary increases. Nehawu late last month told The Mercury that they had reached an agreement with the university about salary increases, bringing to an end a three-week protest.

MUT confirmed that an agreement had been reached, but said the offer was subject to the university council’s approval.

It is believed that last week the union followed up with the university regarding the agreement, and found that no progress had been made.

On Monday, the protesting staff responded by blocking the university campus’s main entrance, preventing staff and students from entering the institution.

The university’s acting vice-chancellor, Marcus Ramogale, said staff should return to work.

Ramogale said staff members who were being subjected to intimidation should report that to their line managers so that disciplinary action could be taken against those intimidating them. He further warned that if staff members engaged in intimidation and blocking of the university entrances, they would be suspended.

“Managers must keep a record of attendance as the principle of ‘no work, no pay’ will be reintroduced,” Ramogale said.

According to the student leadership, teaching and learning at the university has yet to start as registration is yet to be completed.

“The academic year will end in January 2022. The registrar will propose a revised academic plan to the Senate. Because lost time can never be recovered, part of the academic work will go into self-study,” Ramogale said.