South Africa 2010: Construction Workers on Strike!  

I have not condemned the workers. However, we know the state of the economy worldwide, recession everywhere. I feel the government has tried by accepting to up the workers salary by 10% when they asked for 13% increment. Life is about give and take and compromise.

Moreover, in Africa, the way we look at issues is not absolute as it is done by western legal system. For instance, in my tradition, we say that absolute innocence is rare and absolute guilt is uncommon. I'm afar off but feel the workers need to be fairer to the government of South Africa. Their action is not only hurting South Africa as a country, but the whole of Africa as a continent. It's an unwritten statement that some seem to look for the negative aspect of Africa.

If this is something to do with cultural issues, then I can't really comment. We (Malaysian) hardly heard about any strike by the workers unless there is totally unfair practice or some politician play the part.

In general, 3% extra is a big amount to ordinary people but not for the super rich businessmen. Remember, any project are done by businessmen and not by government himself. The government pay a fix amount to this businessmen to complete the project. They are bound to agreement. And that can't be change without extreme condition.

Businessmen on the other hand always try to make extra profit. Gain - cost = profit. To make extra profit, they always try to lower their cost. If the businessmen think that they can find a lot of people to do that job, they will lower the cost (in this case, the salary). It is written in the free market practice.

As I said before, I don't know the real situation there and all I can do is make assumption.

Happy mylotting and have a nice day.