Trade unions locked in a dispute with state-owned Transnet over restructuring have postponed their strike in the Eastern Cape until Friday to give the labour structures in the province enough time to finalise logistics and other outstanding issues, it emerged on Monday.
The Eastern Cape industrial action — originally scheduled for Monday — will take place two days after the Northern Cape and Western Cape’s strikes. In the Western Cape, unions expect about 5 000 Transnet employees to participate in a march on Parliament on February 15.
The unions opposing Transnet’s “unilateral” plans to restructure are the United Association of South Africa, the United Transport and Allied Trade Union and the Congress of South African Trade Unions-affiliated South African Transport and Allied Workers’ Union (Satawu).
The South African Rail and Harbour Workers’ Union (Sarhwu), which two weeks ago withdrew from the joint action, could rejoin the other three unions following a meeting held between Sarhwu and the trio last Friday.
According to the unions, the talks have stalled because Transnet and the government have been unable to issue written guarantees in respect of job security and employee benefits should subsidiaries be disposed of or transferred to the Department of Public Enterprises.
The transport utility and the unions will once again meet on February 17 to chart the way forward and possibly to avert a national strike on March 6.
Should the p arties still not find a solution on Friday, they may seek an intervention by a third party, the Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration.
Meanwhile, Satawu is planning to organise a strike at South African Airways (SAA) — due to be unbundled from Transnet to become a standalone entity.
For the six months ended September, Transnet reported a R3,1-billion operating profit, but SAA, with 12 000 employees, registered an operating loss of R240-million, after an operating profit of R378-million a year earlier. — I-Net Bridge