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SowetanLive reports that with the collapse of wage negotiations between workers and employer associations in the bus sector, a potentially crippling strike looms for the busy Easter weekend.
The third round of wage negotiations in the SA Road Passenger Bargaining Council (Sarpbac) failed last week as unions demanded double digit wage increases while employers made a final 3% offer. Unions on Thursday made submissions in the council on picketing rules. A mandatory cooling off period will end on 13 April, just two days before the Easter weekend after which the strike can begin. Solomon Mahlangu of the SA Transport and Allied Workers’ Union (Satawu) said employers have failed to come to the party in the negotiations, leaving workers with no other option but to strike. In his view, the offer from employers was an insult to workers who have for the past two years accepted increases which were below the inflation rate and did not factor in benefits and allowances. “So we already have the certificate of non-resolution which permits us to strike. The adoption of picketing rules are just logistics to ensure that the strike is manageable and peaceful,” Mahlangu indicated. He said the workers' negotiators were still available if the employers were willing to resolve the dispute but as things stood “the strike is inevitable”. The strike look set to affect 14,000 workers, mainly bus drivers, working for subsidised and non-subsidised bus services, including Putco which operates in Gauteng, Limpopo and Mpumalanga. Terry Murugan of the SA Bus Employers Association (Sabea) commented: “It would be premature for me to speak [about the strike] because we are committed to the cause of getting it resolved. Let us follow the process and then we will be able to give you a comment later”
- Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Isaac Mahlangu and Penwell Dlamini at SowetanLive
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