Java. I do not agree that public sector workers should not be allowed to unionize and or strike. Why should the state be allowed to not treat it's workers fairly. The state is a normal employer, and therefor there can not be special rules for them. Also, not all sectors are totally not part of free market. Take hospitals for instance, SA has state owned hospitals and private ones, so there is a element of choice and therefor free market.

But having said all that, I think SA should return to the old system where certain jobs are classified as 'essential services' and they should not be allowed to strike, even though there should be other ways for them to handle grieviances. I just read that the Teachers Union is now also joining the strike, and they are another group I think should not strike.

But to be fair, some of these people have fair grieviances. I remember about 3 years ago, one of the provinces teachers had a strike over pay. The public was very upset, untill it became public that this province (Limpopo) have not given their teachers a raise in 5 years!

AH

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“The subject no longer has to be mentioned by name. Someone is sick. Someone else is feeling better now. A friend has just gone back into the hospital. Another has died. The unspoken name, of course, is AIDS.”
“From the point of view of the pharmaceutical industry, the AIDS problem has already been solved. After all, we already have a drug which can be sold at the incredible price of $8, 000 an annual dose, and which has the added virtue of not diminishing the market by actually curing anyone.”