Unions and managers of the company contracted to build Durban’s  2010  Soccer World Cup  stadium, the Group Five-WBHO Consortium, met on Tuesday, to try to avert a strike that would halt construction at the site.

Group 5’s KwaZulu-Natal MD Craig Jessop and National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) regional organiser Msi Poswa said, on Tuesday, the two parties would be meeting with the Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration (CCMA) today in a bid to stop workers downing tools at the Moses Mabhida Stadium tomorrow.

“If no agreement is reached at the meeting, then we will go ahead with the strike on Wednesday,” Poswa said.

He said that unions were demanding project bonuses of R1500 a month for each worker.

Last week NUM said it was demanding project bonuses of R1200 a month, but Poswa said the union had “reverted to R1500 because management has not moved at all”.

“We know that the government is paying R2,6 billion (for the construction project). We want to get a share in that,” he said.

NUM is also demanding that workers be allowed to elect a full-time safety compliance worker and that subcontractors meet minimum wage requirements for the civil engineering sector.

Last week NUM regional coordinator Bonginkosi Mncwabe said: “They (the consortium) agreed to it, but what about all the time they (the workers) have worked so far? There must be backpay.”

The CCMA issued a certificate of nonresolution last week.

Jessop said that the  stadium  was scheduled to be completed in July 2009.

He said that the union had an “18% representation on site”.

AFP