BL Premium reports that the SA Transport and Allied Workers’ Union (Satawu) has rejected a revised wage offer from employers in the road passenger sector and is sticking to its demand for an above-inflation wage increase.

The union, one of the largest in the sector, is demanding an 11% wage increase, more than double the 4.9% inflation rate the SA Reserve Bank has forecast for 2022. Workers in the sector earn a minimum wage of R7,500 a month. Solomon Mahlangu, Satawu’s national co-ordinator for passenger bus workers, indicated on Wednesday: “In January we held a four-day discussion over the demands but we could not make progress as employers tabled a 2.5% wage increase and a zero increase on allowances. The second session, which was also a four-day engagement, was held last week.” During the second session the employers revised their wage proposal to 3% “on condition that we withdraw some of our demands”, Mahlangu reported. He said the parties failed to reach an agreement. “In March we are going for mediation. If we don’t reach an agreement, then a certificate of non-resolution will be issued, which will give workers the right to go on strike, and employers the right to implement a lockout,” Mahlangu explained. He said the union’s other demands included an 11% increase on the subsistence and travel allowance of R690 and for the double-driver allowance for long-distance drivers of R400 to be likewiseincreased by 11%.

• Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Luyolo Mkentane at BusinessLive (subscriber access only)

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