BLOEMFONTEIN – Legal Aid South Africa employees affiliated with the South African Lawyers and Allied Workers Union (SALAWU) have returned to workplaces after two days of strike action.

The union issued notice that the strike had been suspended nationwide, while the employer (Legal Aid SA) confirmed that all offices were operating as normal and that services continued uninterrupted. The employer indicated it respects the constitutional rights of employees to participate in lawful and protected industrial action.

The strike did, however, impact on operations, resulting in the postponement of several pending cases on both Monday and Tuesday.

According to the trade union, the suspension of its industrial action over a range of issues was pending a response by Legal Aid SA and the Minister of Justice, Mmamoloko Kubayi, to workers’ demands. The union has given both the Minister and the employer ten days to respond to its members’ demands.

On Monday the trade union renewed its strike after it was suspended temporarily in June in the hope that the employer would meet the workers’ demands. Aggrieved workers demand, among others, unpaid performance bonuses, improvement of declining working conditions, and that frozen vacancies be filled to ensure they render services to the public.

Unpaid bonuses are for the current fiscal term. According to unhappy workers, the current working environment is impacting on their ability to serve the public diligently.

ALSO READ: Legal Aid SA workers on nationwide strike over unpaid bonuses, vacant posts

Striking workers at various branches included support staff and legal practitioners. Trade union SALAWU served notice last Wednesday of a strike by its members to compel the employer to honour undertakings to address workers’ grievances. Trade union members were seen picketing outside the premises during lunchtime, while in other regions they marched to present a memorandum of their demands to representatives of the Department of Justice and Constitutional Development.

Legal practitioners at Bloemfontein in Free State, raised graved concerns the working environment, further lamenting caseload due to shortage of staff to server and travelling long distances to serve various courts- district, regional and high court matters from various towns outside Bloemfontein.