Bus strike no closer to conclusion
THERE seems to be no end in sight to the crippling bus strike that has left hundreds of thousands of commuters stranded since Wednesday.
The striking unions, headed by the SA Transport and Allied Workers Union (Satawu) had a scheduled two-day meeting with the Employers Association to continue negotiations.
The meeting is being facilitated by the Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration.
Satawu spokesperson Zanele Sabela said: “It is too soon to say what will happen. The meetings are very long and we are hoping by the end of Friday an agreement would have been reached.”
Sabela said the strike continued in the meantime.
Golden Arrow Bus Services (Gabs) has been out of operation, leaving more than 230 000 people seeking alternative transportation, while 72 000 MyCiTi commuters have also been affected daily.
Gabs has asked that ticket holders keep their tickets, which would be extended when the service resumed.
MyCiTi also informed its commuters that the monthly packages would be extended, equal to the number of days the strike action lasted. The length of the extension would be determined once the strike came to an end.
Cosatu has condemned Gabs for not arranging alternative transport for ticket holders.
“The company has the ability to arrange for Metrorail to accept the bus tickets on their trains, the same way that Metrorail arranges for the company to accept their train tickets on their buses.
“It is only because of the contempt they have for workers and commuters that they have not made these similar arrangements,” said the union’s provincial secretary, Tony Ehrenreich.
Transport unions are demanding a one-year 12% across the board (ATB) wage increase agreement. They are also proposing a minimum basic wage of R8 000, while employers offered a threeyear agreement with 7% ATB for the first year, 7.25% for 2019 and 7.5% for 2020.
The national bus strike follows a deadlock in negotiations which dates back to January 2.
Cosatu said it was in support of the striking workers.
“The federation supports the striking workers in their wage demands and calls on government to nationalise massbased public transport and to pay the workers decent wages.
“Strikes are, however, meant to put pressure on the bosses to pay decent salaries, not to put added pressure on the workers, who are commuters with no alternative,” said Ehrenreich.
The National Education, Health and Allied Workers Union (Nehawu) urged commuters to support the striking members.
“We call on all communities, especially commuters, to support the strike in order to ensure that it ends as soon as possible,” said Nehawu.
WE CALL ON ALL COMMUNITIES, ESPECIALLY COMMUTERS, TO SUPPORT THE STRIKE TO ENSURE IT ENDS SOON