Six hours of negotiations between striking unions and Metrorail were a ”total disaster and waste of time”, said United Transport and Allied Trade Unions (Utatu) general secretary Chris de Vos after Wednesday’s meeting.
The strike, which has left thousands of commuters inconvenienced, will enter its fourth day on Thursday.
”We tried our utmost. We were prepared to move to 5,5% and they were adamant they could not move from 4,5%,” De Vos said.
He said Metrorail’s offer of 5,5% would only benefit a few and did not extend to all workers.
The union also offered to move the implementation date from April 1 to June 1, thereby generating R8-million that would cover the extra percent. This offer was also ”pushed off the table”.
De Vos said that Maria Ramos’s executive director, Radiep Maharaj, came through very strongly that they would not move away from the 4,5% offer, even if the money was generated.
The strike will continue while the unions wait for a mandate from the National Port Authority to give notice to the bargaining council that port union members can participate in a legal sympathetic strike.
When asked if talks will continue on Thursday, De Vos said it would be ”a waste of time sitting around unless the CCMA gets involved”.
He said they will return to union members and ask them if they were willing to accept Metrorail’s offer.
Metrorail spokesperson Thandi Mlangeni said in a statement that ”all the parties indicated their willingness to resolve the wage dispute as soon as possible and will reconvene again tomorrow to explore other available options”.
Service levels during the afternoon peak traffic period were at their lowest at 34% in the Western Cape. Tshwane was running at 69%, Durban at 88%, Wits at 93% and the Eastern Cape at 100%.
Acting chief executive officer Lauriette Modipane again apologised to commuters for the inconvenience.
The strike, which started on Monday, has left thousands of commuters stranded and many have made use of taxis, and buses provided by Metrorail.
In Cape Town, Golden Arrow Bus Services on Wednesday asked commuters to be patient during the ”extreme disruption” caused by the strike.
It said it was doing everything possible to help stranded rail commuters.
”However it is essential for the public to understand that the company’s bus fleet is fully utilised under normal circumstances and there are no extra buses that can be added to the fleet,” it said in a statement.
The best it could do was to run extra trips to and from areas where there was greatest demand. – Sapa