National bus strike comes to an end

Numsa warns against victimisation of those who took part

ALL National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa (Numsa) members are expected back at work today after they downed tools last week as part of the nationwide bus strike. The union’s general secretary, Irvin Jim, said that after extensive consultation with regions in all nine provinces, Numsa had decided to end the strike in the bus passenger sector.

He urged all their members to return to work today. “We want to inform employers that it will take time for all our members to return to work. We expect that by Tuesday all our members should be back at work.

“We also want to remind the employers that we will not tolerate any victimisation of our members for their participation in the strike,” said Jim.

He said they would continue to pressurise the Department of Labour to do proper oversight in the bus passenger sector. “The fact that our members, even under the new wage agreement, will continue to be exposed to dangerously long hours without compensation is shameful.

“We are inspired by our members who demonstrated great courage and determination during the course of the strike. “They were also extremely disciplined. “We salute you for fighting for a dignified life for yourself and your families.”

There are consumer concerns that the increase will be passed on to commuters in the form of fare increases.

Despite the agreement, it is unclear whether Golden Arrow passengers would be affected by the increase.

Golden Arrow spokesperson Bronwen Dyke-Beyer said the settlement had just been reached, that they had to assess the agreement and could not say whether there would be ticket increases.

Golden Arrow resumed their services on Saturday with a skeleton staff as a result of the Easter break.

“(We) wish to commend all parties for the speedy resolution of the strike and once more apologises to its passengers for the inconvenience suffered during this period,” she said.

Passengers were advised to contact the company’s transport information centre to ascertain the availability of buses and for information about clipcards that had been valid during the strike.

MyCiTi operations also resumed on Saturday after the agreement was reached.

Mayco member for transport and urban development Brett Herron said on Saturday: “Passengers should please note that it may take a few hours for the service to settle in, meaning there may be some initial delays on some of the routes.”

The agreement was reached during the wage negotiations at the SA Road Passenger Bargaining Council –