TimesLive reports that thousands of commuters were left stranded as bus drivers went on a wage strike nationally on Wednesday. Those striking include long distance bus drivers.
Hundreds of commuters queued at the Bara Taxi Rank in Soweto as Putco and Rea Vaya services were affected. The Johannesburg Metrobus service was running as normal‚ however few commuters were seen on some buses early on Wednesday morning. Stranded commuters in and around Pretoria had to flag down anything on wheels and stand in long queues to get to work. In Cape Town‚ many bus commuters had to find alternative ways to get to work as both Golden Arrow and MyCiTi buses were not operating, forcing commuters to opt for taxis or travel by car. Meanwhile‚ unions are refusing to budge‚ putting the blame squarely on employers, who have not come up with a better offer. The National Union of Metalworkers of SA (Numsa) said its 7,500 workers would continue with the strike until the employers returned with a revised offer. Employers are offering an increase of 7.5%, while the SA Transport & Allied Workers’ Union (Satawu) and Numsa are demanding 12% and 15%, respectively. The unions have also raised conditions of service issues, such as shifts spread over 16 hours and overtime rates.
- Read this report by Sipho Mabena And Aphiwe Deklerk in full at TimesLive
- See too, Bus strike to cause traffic delays, at Cape Times
- And also, Busstaking ‘kom op baie slegte tyd’, at Netwerk24 (limit on access)
Get other news reports at the SA Labour News home page