ANA reports that the United National Transport Union (Untu) on Wednesday asked its members to provide a mandate for an indefinite national strike.  

The union said it had no other option after the Passenger Rail Agency of SA (Prasa) refused to increase its final wage offer of six percent.  This came after the CCMA on Wednesday afternoon issued a certificate of non-resolution of the dispute between the two parties as Prasa management came back to the conciliation without a new mandate.  The CCMA had given Prasa two weeks to get a new mandate amidst the Minister of Transport, Dipuo Peters, having been fired during the recent Cabinet reshuffle and the Prasa board having been dissolved.  Untu general secretary Steve Harris said the workers would down tools because the employer’s offer was “an insult”.  He indicated that the union would be embarking on a process of getting a strike mandate from its members in terms of its constitution.  Untu’s standing mandate from its members is for a 10% salary increase, as well as a number of other improvements in conditions.

• Read this report in full at The Citizen
• Read Untu’s statement in this regard at Untu online

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