World Cup wildcat: stewards walk out over low pay

Submitted by AWL on 15 June, 2010 - 1:18 Author: BBC

From the BBC website

Stewards due to provide security at a World Cup football match in South Africa have gone on strike in a dispute over wages. About 1,000 police officers stood in for the stewards at the game, between Italy and Paraguay in Cape Town. Fans said there appeared to be no security problems at the match, which ended in a 1-1 draw.

Earlier, riot police in Durban fired tear gas to disperse hundreds of stewards protesting over pay. South Africa's World Cup chief, Danny Jordaan, said it was "unacceptable" for the stewards to be trying to disrupt the games. He said it was an "employer-employee wage dispute".

Protesting stewards in Durban told reporters they had received 190 rand (£17; $25) for their work, but they had been promised much more. The firm employing the stewards, Stallion Security, told AFP news agency that the workers had been "misled" by jealous commercial rivals who failed to get the World Cup tender. Police and World Cup officials said they expected Tuesday's games to go ahead as planned, with security being handled by police and some non-striking stewards.

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Submitted by Newcastle on Tue, 15/06/2010 - 18:38

From the guardian today

Stewards strike before Brazil match as unrest spreads

• Security staff demonstrate at Ellis Park as wage dispute grows
• Durban protest breaks up after stewards are paid to leave

Stadium staff have taken strike action outside Ellis Park in Johannesburg hours before Brazil's match against North Korea, as the anger over low wages for stewards spreads across South Africa.

The strike, following an earlier protest in Durban which broke up when stewards were paid to turn in their orange bibs, are part of a wider dispute between security staff at the World Cup stadiums and a private contractor. They come against a backdrop of concern about lax security at venues.

At Ellis Park, hundreds of workers chanted, whistled and sang outside the stadium after calling a strike at midday. A 26-year-old man from Tembisa, speaking on condition of anonymity, said he was offered 190 rand (£17) to work 10 hours, and that pay has been going down since he started work on 27 May.

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World Cup organisers have said that police will take over security if stewards in Johannesburg follow their colleagues in Durban and Cape Town by striking.

In Durban, most of the 2,000 stewards protesting left the demonstration after a couple of hours when they were paid 205 rand (£18) in exchange for turning in their orange stewards' bibs.

"I am not happy about it, but I'm all right," said a man who gave only his first name, James, as he left the protest.

The demonstration started with about 150 stewards chanting and singing near the Moses Mabhida Stadium, with armed police watching as numbers swelled.

The stewards and a union official both called on Fifa to intervene in the dispute with Stallion Security Consortium, which has not made a public comment on the situation.

"We are trying to gather more information, so we can attempt to engage Fifa and find a solution," the South African Transport and Allied Workers Union coordinator Mzwandile Jackson Simon said.

"There are indications they are willing to work something out. I don't think police will manage on their own."

On Monday, police took over security at venues in Durban and Cape Town after the stewards protested. Both cities are scheduled to host semi-finals next month. Police were posted around the Durban stadium today and carried out checks that previously were done by the stewards.

Durban police used tear gas and rubber bullets after Sunday's match between Germany and Australia to disperse a crowd of stewards at the stadium.

The chief executive of the World Cup organising committee, Danny Jordaan, said yesterday that he respects workers' rights but called match-day disruptions "unacceptable" and said authorities "will not hesitate to take action in such instances".

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