Satawu bus drivers to strike at Easter for 9%
The SA Transport and Allied Workers’ Union (Satawu) says bus drivers will down tools before the Easter holidays in a bid to get pay rises of up to 9%.
The union and employer bodies represented by the SA Road Passenger Bargaining Council deadlocked in February and were granted a 30-day cooling-off period after Satawu was issued with a certificate of nonresolution, allowing it to strike. Satawu, which represents about 4,600 workers in the sector, is demanding a two-year wage deal, with an increase of 9% in 2023/24 and an 8% hike in the final year. Consumer inflation eased to an annual rate of 6.9% in January, from 7.2% in December 2022.
The union has rejected a 6% offer by employer organisations including the SA Bus Employers Association and the Commuter Bus Employers Association. “There is nothing revised here, the employer keeps on insulting the workers,” Satawu said.
“We are not even going to consider it. The 30-day cooling period will expire ... We will then on April 1 give the employer a 48-hour notice that we will be embarking on a strike as the certificate of non-resolution was issued by the commissioner. The strike is legal and protected.”
Besides the effect on bus operators, a strike could leave millions of passengers in the lurch over the Easter long weekend, including travellers to countries such as Lesotho, Zimbabwe, Mozambique and Eswatini. Traffic volumes over the Easter break are second only to the Christmas holidays.
The bus industry was among sectors hit hardest by Covid-19 lockdown restrictions that included border closures and rules limiting passenger numbers. The restrictions resulted in luxury coach operator Greyhound and its semi-luxury operator Citiliner halting operations in February 2021 with hundreds of job losses. The bus lines resumed operations in April 2022 after the company’s relaunch.
In 2022, a strike in the sector was averted when parties agreed on a 6% pay increase that expires on March 31. The unions had initially sought 11%.
In 2021, workers in the sector settled for a 4% increase after demanding between 7.5% and 8.5%, and in 2020, the sector implemented a 6% hike.
“The employer is being greedy and selfish, said Satawu general secretary” Jack Mazibuko. “When we were negotiating last year [2022], we ended up signing a [one-] year agreement because the employer could not meet our demands, claiming that the business isn’t doing so good [and that] they are still trying to pick up from the lockdown and Covid-19. Now there is no excuse at all.”
Mazibuko said Satawu believed business was doing “so well and there is money, hence we are ... willing to go on strike, it’s the only language they hear”.
Still, he said a strike was “not our priority as we know what is at stake, and that it will affect our struggling economy. The passenger sector is bringing millions of rand to our economy.” But, Mazibuko said workers would hold out for a better offer.
SA Road Passenger Bargaining Council general secretary Gary Wilson told Business Day that the cooling-off period ends on March 30, and it was “premature” for the union to threaten strike action as parties could still find each other.
“This doesn’t bode well as every effort is being made to find a solution,” Wilson said.
“Every year I try to look at ways of avoiding any kind of unnecessary industrial action, but I don’t want to pre-empt anything. A solution could be found before April. Parties must not antagonise each other.”
A SOLUTION COULD BE FOUND BEFORE APRIL BUT PARTIES MUST NOT ANTAGONISE EACH OTHER