JOHANNESBURG — Construction workers have agreed to end a weeklong strike that threatened to derail the completion of already tightly-scheduled projects for the World Cup, union officials and employers said Wednesday.
Workers agreed on a pay increase of 12 percent, below the earlier demand of 13 percent, and work at sites across South Africa is to resume on Thursday.

“The strike is over,” said Lesiba Seshoka, spokesman for the National Union of Mineworkers. “We got a good offer.”

Workers earn a minimum wage of about $300 a month but some casual laborers can take home less than $100. Unions have also cited increases in fuel and food costs that are making it harder for workers to make ends meet.Negotiations were concluded in the early hours of Wednesday morning and an agreement was supposed to have been signed at noon ET.

Three hours later, though, the agreement still had not been signed. Reporters waiting at the office of the labor mediation body that helped bring about the agreement were not given any reason for the delay.

Dozens of workers in yellow shirts converged at the venue in downtown Johannesburg amid worry that they were not happy with the deal. The workers would not comment, saying they were not permitted to speak to the media.

Seshoka said the deal was still on but that employers were deciding on the final wording of the agreement.

“We have our pens in our hands and are ready to sign,” he said.

Danny Jordaan, the head of the World Cup organizing committee, welcomed the end of the dispute. “Let the construction restart in earnest,” he said in a statement.

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