City bus strike to affect masses
Union wants to see transformation and better working conditions
CHAOS is expected at transport hubs this morning as the nationwide bus industry strike gets under way.
Congestion is also expected on the country’s roads as more taxis ferry commuters to work and people make use of their cars. Passenger trains on the Cape railway lines will be overflowing after Metrorail indicated they will assist in getting people to work.
The strike is a result of deadlocked wage negotiations between bus companies – Golden Arrow and MyCiTi – and trade unions who are party to the South African Road Passengers Bargaining council.
They have been in wage negotiations for weeks and reached a deadlock on Monday.
The council revealed that over 40 demands have been tabled, and among those demands was a 12% increase in wages.
“At this point only unions will decide how they will conduct the strike, ” said the general secretary for the council, Gary Wilson.
He said the effects of the strike could potentially cripple the economy. “The strike could have a huge impact on the economy, we’re looking at around 30 000 employers that will be affected by the strike.”
Golden Arrow said they were in no position to fix the current situation. “We remain ever aware of the integral role that our services play in the lives of our passengers,” said Bronwen Dyke-Beyers, spokesperson for Golden Arrow. She added commuters were advised to keep their weekly and monthly clip cards.
Zanele Sabela, spokesperson for Satawu said their demands included improvements in the work schedule of bus drivers.
They also wanted the reduced shift of 17 hours cut down to 12.
Metrorail has been approached by the City of Cape Town to assist bus commuters who will be affected by the strike.
Janine Myburgh, of the Cape Chamber of Business, said the strike came at a time when Metrorail was underperforming and running at close to capacity during commuting hours, leaving commuters with few alternatives but private cars and taxis. –
THE South African Transport Workers Union (Satawu) has described today’s strike action by bus drivers as not only about wages but better working conditions and transformation in the industry. The union said payment of a second driver for long distance travel and specifications on night shift was also in dispute. “Money is not the only issue at stake. “Labour was clear from the beginning that these talks were aimed at transforming the industry for the better.
“But employers have stubbornly refused to relent on demands that are already stipulated in the Basic Conditions of Employment Act, citing the current main collective agreement as justification,” the union said.
“For instance, the agreement classifies night work as any work done between 8pm and 3am while the act secifies work done between 6pm to 6am.
“Spread over – where a driver reports for work for a three-hour morning shift, breaks for eight hours and then works a further five hours, is another factor that parties have failed to agree on.”
Labour wants the spread over to be 12 hours a day while employers insists it should be 14 hours.
“What employers fail to recognise is that because no sleeping facilities are made available for drivers, when travelling time to and from work is factored in (an average hour each way), then what you have are sleep-deprived drivers at the wheel. This is obviously a dangerous situation not only for bus commuters but for all road users.”
The union added that employers refused to pay a second driver from the time that the trip began, a period he had to be on the bus.
“Employers are refusing to pay the relief driver from the start of the trip.
“Instead they insist that if a driver’s foot is not on the pedal, the driver’s shift has not started. Unions want both drivers and support staff to be paid from start to finish of the trip.”
Satawu said it had approached the Labour Court last year to seek relief on the second driver issue and awaited judgment.
Talks between unions and bus companies deadlocked at the Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration. A national strike at bus companies such as Golden Arrow, MyCiTi, Putco, Rea Vaya, Great North Transport and Autopax would see commuters stranded over the Easter holidays.
Unions are seeking a 12% increase while employers have offered 7.5%.