More than 1 000 Solidarity members who work for Sasol’s coal-mining operations embarked on a protected strike in Secunda on Tuesday, Solidarity said in a statement.
Solidarity members are “tired” of Sasol’s management style, especially the poor salary increases the group gives and unsafe working conditions, Solidarity spokesperson Dirk Hermann said.
The workers are staging the strike to protest about Sasol’s salary offer to workers of a 6,5% increase, while Solidarity members are demanding a 10% increase.
During the course of Tuesday, a note will be handed to Sasol management to protest worsening safety conditions at the company.
“The safety of workers has become a priority issue with our members. The cycle of fatal accidents at Sasol has to be broken. The recent operational accidents have to do with poor management strategies that put cost cutting above safety,” Hermann added.
Solidarity is also embarking on legal action to obtain access to the internal investigation into the explosion at Sasol’s ethylene plant in Secunda.
Last Wednesday, a blast hit Sasol’s ethylene plant in Secunda, Mpumalanga, and thus far has claimed seven lives.
More than 100 people were injured in the blast, which was evidently sparked by a gas leak.
Sasol refuses to grant access to the investigation to Solidarity’s representatives, the trade union said. Sasol’s management has refused to disclose any information concerning possible causes for the disaster.
Staff cuts, rationalisation and the contracting-out of services may be contributing factors to the decline in safety, Solidarity said.
“These factors result in too few workers being available to perform the necessary work,” the union added.
The internal investigation into the Secunda accident started on September 2 and includes the Department of Labour, Sasol and the South African Police Service.
“Transparency is absent at Sasol. Sasol is excluding the trade unions from the inquiry process,” said Solidarity’s occupational safety representative, Chris Pienaar.
“Sasol now has sole access to the scene of the disaster. This raises fears that the company may manipulate the investigation, since no impartial observers are present.
“It is distressing to note that the gas explosion was the third accident at Sasol this year. It is also distressing that Sasol did not act upon the results of the investigation following the explosion on June 21, in which Dyllan Ward lost his life,” Pienaar said. — I-Net Bridge