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BL Premium reports that some 16,000 Joburg commuters were left stranded on Wednesday and Thursday when Metrobus employees downed tools, citing unresolved grievances with the City of Johannesburg-owned bus company.
Metrobus indicated on Wednesday: “Due to an illegal strike by several employees of Metrobus, which commenced during the afternoon shift of January 31, bus operations were negatively affected, leading to significant inconvenience to our customers. Management is making every effort to ensure that services are restored as soon as possible.” Based on a security threat analysis, “both the Metrobus sales outlet and the nerve centre at Gandhi Square will be closed until further notice”. But on Thursday, unions at the bus company denied they were on strike and said they only wanted a list of their grievances resolved by management. SA Municipal Workers’ Union’s (Samwu’s) Ester Mtatyana stated: “Metrobus is not on strike. Workers were merely having a general meeting and after that they went to the employer to get an update on their grievances.” The grievances, she said, stemmed from the new shift system the company has allegedly implemented without consulting labour, and a tender for a new fleet which she said was withdrawn without explanation. Mtatyana claimed the company was effectively reducing its headcount without approaching unions. Independent Municipal and Allied Trade Union (Imatu) shop steward Sammy Singo commented: “We used to have 500 shifts, now there are 200 shifts; 300 have been cancelled and there was no communication with labour. We view this as a way of restructuring the company, but you can’t do that without consultation with labour.”
- Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Luyolo Mkentane at BusinessLive (subscriber access only)
- Read too, In wake of strike, Metrobus says it's working hard to restore operations, at EWN
- And also, MMC Kunene slams striking Metrobus employees, at SABC News
Get other news reports at the SA Labour News home page