Public sector union, the National Education, Health and Allied Workers' Union (Nehawu) on Tuesday denied signing an agreement with the government committing it not to strike during the 2010 FIFA World Cup.

"We have explicitly said that we will never allow the World Cup to be used to blackmail workers into abandoning their struggles for better wages and working conditions," Nehawu spokesperson Sizwe Pamla said in a statement.

"We will never sign such an agreement that denies workers their right to strike."

His remarks followed Thursday's announcement of a wage dispute between public servants and the public works ministry, in which labour negotiators confirmed that "technically" there would be no strikes for the next 30 days. They said that hopefully by then, a solution would have been reached.

On Thursday last week, Home Affairs Minister Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma commended both Nehawu and the Public Service Association (PSA). She said that they had signed agreements with the government committing them to "no labour unrest" during the soccer tournament.

A day later, the PSA denied signing the agreement, saying that an official from Dlamini-Zuma's had contacted them with the proposal, which they rejected.

The PSA claimed that the department asked an employee, a PSA member, to sign the agreement on the union's behalf.

"This is nothing less than intimidation by the department, which is totally unacceptable," the union's deputy general manager Manie de Clercq said.

Talks with the department reached a deadlock last week after labour unions adjusted their demands from 11% general salary increases to 8,6% and R10 00 for a monthly housing allowance.

The government was offering a 6,5% increase and a R620 housing allowance.