Striking cash-in-transit workers intend taking to the streets of Johannesburg if wage negotiations on Monday afternoon fail.
The Motor Transport Workers Union (MTWU) would call on its members to march from the Beyers Naude Square (formerly the Library Gardens) to the Road Freight Bargaining Council in Braamfontein at 10am on Tuesday, said MTWU spokesperson Emily Fourie.
The negotiations over salaries and conditions of employment for drivers, crewmen and vehicle guards started in August.
MTWU said although Protea Coin security franchisers reached a compromise with the union on Sunday night, talks with Group 4 Securicor were still deadlocked.
Negotiations resumed on Monday afternoon, Fourie said.
Already, automated teller machines are running out of money, mostly in Cape Town and Durban, reports the South African Broadcasting Corporation.
MTWU has demanded a minimum basic salary of R6 000 a month for drivers, crewmen and vehicle guards and R7 000 for custodians, and a 12% across the board increase for all MTWU members.
The demands were reasonable given the danger and difficulties of the job undertaken, said MTWU general secretary Mdumisa Mabaso.
”We are particularly concerned about the safety at petrol stations and convenience stores, which may need to have their day’s intake transported to banks,” said Dennis George, the general secretary of the Federation of Unions of South Africa, to which the MTWU is affiliated. — Sapa