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28 February 2019 | Story Lacea Loader
A group of outsourced workers and some students blocked entrances to gates of the University of the Free State (UFS) Bloemfontein Campus this morning. This follows the unprotected strike action by outsourced workers yesterday to demonstrate their demand for immediate insourcing of all jobs at the university.

The protest is ongoing, and the executive management is continuing engagement with the WSF today regarding their proposed demand for insourcing.

All academic and administrative services and activities are continuing as normal today, after some classes were disrupted yesterday and spaces on campus vandalised. The situation on campus is being monitored closely by our Protection Services and members of the university management.

The executive management remains committed to ensuring stability on campus and to the uninterrupted continuation of all academic and administrative services and activities; the executive management is furthermore committed to engage continuously with all its constituencies, including the WSF, in an open, transparent, and honest manner.

All students and staff are encouraged to constantly check the official communication platforms for updated information.

Emergency numbers for the Bloemfontein Campus:
+27 51 401 2911/2634 (24 hours on duty)

Released by:
Lacea Loader (Director: Communication and Marketing)
Telephone: +27 51 401 2584 | +27 83 645 2454
Email: news@ufs.ac.za | loaderl@ufs.ac.za
Fax: +27 51 444 6393


28 February 2019: Outsourced workers at the UFS embark on unprotected strike action
Outsourced workers at the University of the Free State (UFS) withdrew their labour today to demonstrate their demand for immediate insourcing of all jobs at the university. Some students and student organisations exercised their solidarity with this intended action and participated in an unprotected strike on the Bloemfontein Campus.

The unprotected strike action follows the handing over of a memorandum by a group consisting of students and outsourced workers from the Workers & Students Forum (WSF) to the university’s executive management during the Shimla Park Commemoration Prayer Service, which took place on the Bloemfontein Campus on Friday 22 February 2019.

In response to the memorandum demanding insourcing, the executive management indicated the university management’s commitment to engaging with the WSF for the betterment of outsourced workers at the UFS and its community. The response furthermore indicated a request to initiate a formal process of engagement and consultation on the proposed outsourcing. The WSF did not accede to this request and decided to embark on today’s unprotected strike action.

Although academic and administrative services and activities continued as normal today, disruption of some classes occurred on the Bloemfontein Campus. The university’s executive management, together with its Protection Services, is monitoring the situation closely. Students participating in the unprotected strike action have been requested to uphold the right to education of their fellow students and not to participate in the disruption of classes.

Discussions regarding possible insourcing at the UFS commenced in 2016, and in 2017 an agreement was reached on a decent or living wage at the UFS. As a result, the total remuneration package of employees of service providers was increased to R7 000 as from 1 July 2017. It was furthermore agreed that the contracts with the current service providers will be rolled over until 2020. A team representing the UFS Council, the Mutual Forum (comprising NEHAWU and UVPERSU), and the Workers Forum (comprising representatives of employees of service providers at the UFS), participated in the discussions.

Additional to the agreement on a decent living wage at the UFS reached in 2017, the university management also established a service provider and contractor forum and subsequently appointed a compliance officer, who meets on a quarterly basis with representatives of the service providers and contractors to resolve issues on a real-time basis and to ensure that they are dealt with in a fair and amicable way, thus ensuring that our outsourced workers are treated in a manner which is aligned to the values of the UFS.

The executive management remains committed to engage continuously with all its constituencies, including the WSF, in an open, transparent, and honest manner.

Released by:
Lacea Loader (Director: Communication and Marketing)
Telephone: +27 51 401 2584 | +27 83 645 2454
Email: news@ufs.ac.za | loaderl@ufs.ac.za
Fax: +27 51 444 6393

News Archive

#Women'sMonth: Save the children
2017-08-10

Description: Trudi O'Neill Tags: : rotaviruses, young children, Dr Trudi O’Neill, Department of Microbial, Biochemical and Food Biotechnology, vaccine 

Dr Trudi O’Neill, Senior lecturer in the Department of
Microbial, Biochemical and Food Biotechnology.
Photo: Anja Aucamp

Dr Trudi O’Neill, Senior lecturer in the Department of Microbial, Biochemical and Food Biotechnology, is conducting research on rotavirus vaccines.

Dr O’Neill was inspired to conduct research on this issue through her fascination with the virus. “The biology of rotaviruses, especially the genome structure and the virus’ interaction with the host, is fascinating.”

“In fact, it is estimated that, globally, ALL children will be infected with rotavirus before the age of five, irrespective of their socio-economic standing. However, infants and young children in poor countries are more vulnerable due to inadequate healthcare. The WHO estimates that approximately 215 000 deaths occur each year. This roughly equates to eight Airbus A380 planes, the largest commercial carrier with a capacity of approximately 500 seats, filled with only children under the age of five, crashing each week of every year.”

Alternative to expensive medicines 
“Currently, there are two vaccines that have been licensed for global use. However, these vaccines are expensive and poor countries, where the need is the greatest, are struggling to introduce them sustainably. It is therefore appealing to study rotaviruses, as it is scientifically challenging, but could at the same time have an impact on child health,” Dr O’Neill said.

The main focus of Dr O’Neill’s research is to develop a more affordable vaccine that can promote child vaccination in countries/areas that cannot afford the current vaccines.

All about a different approach 
When asked about the most profound finding of her research, Dr O’Neill responded: “It is not so much a finding, but rather the approach. My rotavirus research group is making use of yeast as vehicle to produce a sub-unit vaccine. These microbes are attractive, as they are relatively easy to manipulate and cheap to cultivate. Downstream production costs can therefore be reduced. The system we use was developed by my colleagues, Profs Koos Albertyn and Martie Smit, and allows for the potential use of any yeast. This enables us to screen a vast number of yeasts in order to identify the best yeast producer.”

Vaccination recently acquired a bad name in the media for its adverse side effects. As researcher, Dr O’Neill has this to say: “Vaccines save lives. By vaccinating your child, you don’t just protect your own child from a potentially deadly infection, but also other children in your community that might be too young to be vaccinated or have pre-existing health problems that prevents vaccination.” 

A future without rotavirus vaccination?
Dr O’Neill believes a future without rotavirus vaccination will be a major step backwards, as the impact of rotavirus vaccines has been profound. “Studies in Mexico and Malawi actually show a reduction in deaths. A colleague in Mozambique has commented on the empty hospital beds that amazed both clinicians and scientists only one year after the introduction of the vaccine in that country. Although many parents, mostly in developed countries, don’t have to fear dehydrating diarrhoea and potential hospitalisation of their babies due to rotavirus infection anymore, such an infection could still be a death sentence in countries that have not been able to introduce the vaccine in their national vaccination programmes,” she said. 

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