Cape Town - The wage dispute between the City and firefighters continues as unions have rejected an offer of a 30% increase.

The City has called a press briefing today to clarify what they say is “misinformation spilling over into the public domain in recent weeks” around the wage negotiations.

South African Municipal Workers’ Union (Samwu) provincial secretary Sidney Flusk said: “We rejected the City’s offer of a 30% increase. We are going for less working hours to force the City to offer a bigger percentage.

"We want firefighters to work a 40-hour week, then all additional hours are overtime, with a maximum of 10 hours’ overtime. Then they work a 12-hour shift instead of a 24-hour shift.”

Flusk said firefighters were “extremely overworked. The employer demands they work overtime because the City’s fire and rescue services are understaffed”. Samwu had lodged a labour dispute and was waiting for a date.