SA stadium builders need a pay rise

Work has halted on South Africa’s World Cup venues as 70,000 labourers have launched what they call the “mother of all strikes,” according to the Daily Mail.


EPA/Jon Hrusa

Work on stadiums for next year’s World Cup was halted today when 70,000 South African builders launched an indefinite strike.

Union chiefs confirmed construction on several unfinished stadiums was stopped at midday as builders downed tools following a dispute over pay.

In Johannesburg 3,000 workers at South Africa’s showpiece Soccer City stadium were this afternoon marching in protest to the headquarters of the 2010 Fifa World Cup to demand better wages.

Ever since FIFA announced South Africa as the venue for the 2010 World Cup there has been chatter about whether the country could get its act together in time, or whether they could even mount such an event. Strikes like this one will only heighten those concerns. It will be interesting to see how this plays out.

Labour issues abound everywhere, and this action doesn’t mean the country isn’t ready for the World Cup — not by a long shot. It recalls the drama around Athens’ hosting of the Olympics a few years ago.

According to the story, builders working on the stadiums earn an average of £185 (US$296) per month, “often for a seven day working week.” They’re asking for a 13 percent rise (to £215, or US$345) but management has countered with only 10 percent.

I, for one, support these workers.

Not to put a downer on the FGOC World Cup tour, but it’s a bit sobering when you think that the four of us are spending all this money and trekking all that way to get pissed and yell during a game in a stadium built by thousands of people making next to nothing in wages.