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By James Macharia
JOHANNESBURG, June 30 (Reuters) - South Africa's biggest union said on Tuesday 50,000 construction workers would launch a strike over pay from next Wednesday, halting work across the economy including on stadiums for the 2010 soccer World Cup.
A prolonged strike, as employers negotiate with unions over wages, could cause the partial shut down of an economy in recession and scare foreign investors.
"A strike action is set to begin on July 8," said Lesiba Seshoka, spokesman for the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) which also represents construction workers.
"Its not just the World Cup stadia that will be affected, we are talking about power stations, hospitals, roads and the like. It will last until they (the employers) come to their senses and offer a 13 percent wage increase for one year."
The NUM said it had served the construction sector's employer body with notice to go on strike after prolonged wage talks collapsed last Friday. It wants a 13 percent rise over one year whilst employers have offered a 10 percent hike.
Several sectors in Africa's biggest economy are holding wage negotiations, some of which cover a two-year period, and unions are demanding above-inflation increases.
Employers have balked at the demands, with consumer inflation at 8 percent, citing the global economic downturn.
As well as World Cup infrastructure, the construction strike could halt work on the mass transit Gautrain high-speed rail project, power stations, an airport, a refinery, a coal terminal, hospitals, highways and mining projects.
The employers' organisation said it would ask the courts to bar a strike, saying an agreement between the parties blocks the union from striking before the end of August this year.
"The strike is premature. We are looking into the possibility of getting a court order to stop this this week," Joe Campanella, spokesman for the South African Federation of Civil Engineering Contractors, told Reuters.
Soccer's world governing body said it was confident South Africa would deliver on its World Cup commitments.
"FIFA has full trust in the host cities and the government in the delivery of their commitments regarding the stadiums," FIFA's media department said.
THUMBS UP
Over the past two weeks, South Africa has staged the Confederations Cup, a test event for the World Cup, which whetted the appetite for the main event, but some building work still needed to be finished on stadiums.
FIFA president Sepp Blatter gave the Confederations Cup organisers a mark of 7.5 points out of 10. [ID:nLT031719]
There was no immediate comment from the government on the news of the strike, but earlier on Tuesday it said the remaining stadiums to be used for the World Cup were nearing completion.
Campanella said companies likely to be hit by the strike include Africa's top construction firm Murray & Roberts Holdings Ltd <MURJ.J>, WBHO <WBOJ.J> and Group Five <GRFJ.J>.
South Africa's state-owned utility Eskom's [ESCJ.UL] 4,800 megawatt Medupi power station could also be affected, slowing efforts to fill a chronic power shortage in the country.
Expansion work on the coal export facility, Richards Bay Coal Terminal could be delayed further, the union said.
