Contingency plans are in place ahead of the South African Transport and Allied Workers’ Union’s (Satawu) nationwide strike scheduled for Monday, Transnet said on Saturday.
Transnet’s John Dludlu said: ”We will activate these to ensure that our operations operate optimally and that disruptions, if at all, are kept to a minimum on the day.
”We will spare no effort to ensure that we move the people who rely on our services and customers’ freight.”
Dludlu said the restructuring of Transnet is aimed at creating a solid transport platform for further growth in the economy, and that the process is about growth and not about job cuts or the reduction of conditions of service.
”First in the transformation process, some companies belonging to us will be transferred to government. And secondly, other units will be sold to the private sector,” he said.
Whether it is a sale or transfer to government, Dludlu said, the conditions or service will not change, and neither will jobs be lost as a result of the restructuring.
”On the other hand, the transfer of Metrorail has been on the cards now almost a year. It has been delayed already — twice to date. It would be exceedingly unwise to keep on postponing,” Dludlu said.
”Besides, no cogent reasons have been given to us on why the transfer cannot be done efficiently, sensitively and effectively by April 1 2006. We have yet to be given a case for why a delay would be necessary.”
Satawu announced on Friday it will strike from Monday, a move that could see more than 50 000 workers staying away.
Union secretary general Randall Howard said on Friday it hopes to delay the date of Metrorail workers’ transfer to Transnet.
”Management is riding roughshod over the unions hoping to push it [the deadline] through without negotiations.
”Unions were only informed of the date of transfer during mediations on March 4,” Howard said.
The Congress of South African Trade Unions and Federation of Unions of South Africa have pledged their support for the strike. — Sapa