OWN CORRESPONDENT, Johannesburg | Thursday 12.15pm.
OFFICIALS in the department of mineral and energy affairs on Thursday said they will urge Minerals and Energy Minister Penuell Maduna to ask government to intervene in the four-day-old chemical industry strike.
Department Director General Gordon Sibya said: “We believe government has a duty to consider acting as a mediator between employers and labour.” Sibiya said his department feels government might be able to convene a meeting between the two parties. “The difference is a mere two percent, and we feel a solution is within reach. We are really working hard to avoid a crisis.”
Meanwhile, fully laden tankers continue rolling out of the Caltex refinery in Milnerton, Cape Town with petrol supplies for Cape Peninsula filling stations, after the company on Wednesday obtained an interdict preventing workers from blockading access routes. Caltex spokesman Pierre Maynard said the position at most filling stations in the Cape Peninsula will be stabilised by Friday and backlogs cleared.
Thursday 9.30am
MINERALS and Energy Affairs Minister Penuell Maduna on Wednesday expressed concern that motorists will be affected because increasing numbers of petrol stations are running out of fuel as the nationwide strike by the Chemical Workers’ Industrial Union moves into its fourth day.
The minerals and energy department maintains, however, that the situation is not serious. National Petroleum Employers’ Association chairman Chris Clucas said fuel supply should be stabilised within a “day or two”, as interdicts granted to ban strikers from blockading deliveries come into effect. The Labour Court this week granted some 20 interdicts against workers blockading access to roads and entrances to refineries across the country.
Numerous incidents of stone-throwing and intimidation by strikers were reported in Durban on Wednesday, while non-striking workers were sjambokked. Strikers also picketed at Cape Town International Airport, while Caltex and Engen refineries were blockaded in the Western Cape.
CWIU workers embarked on the strike on Monday after wage negotiations for a 10,5% salary increase, 40-hour work week and paid sick leave, failed last week. Industrial chemical employers tabled a final offer of 8,5% on Wednesday. The wage negotiations are fragmented, however, as each sector is required to negotiate independently with management.