Bus strike may lead to mass action

BUS driver unions have threatened mass action that could lead to violence after employers refused to agree on a proposed settlement in the ongoing bus drivers’ strike.

SA Transport and Allied Workers Union spokesperson Zanele Sabela said there were no scheduled engagements, and trade unions were “strategising on ways that could escalate the bus drivers’ strike”.

“We want mass action; that is all that we are prepared to say for now,” said Sabela.

The national bus strike started on April 18, following a three-month period of failed negotiations.

Last Thursday, the two parties met after an unsuccessful intervention by Transport Minister Blade Nzimande and Labour Minister Mildred Oliphant.

Sabela said the result of the meeting was a reversion to the original offer of 8% for the first year and 8.5% for the second, while the union reverted to their demand of a 12% increase.

The SA Road Passenger Bargaining Council, comprising two unions – the SA Bus Employers’ Association and Commuter Bus Employers’ Organisation – said passengers would feel the bus strike in their pockets.

Bargaining council spokesperson John Dammert said there would probably be fee increases once services resumed.

“To put these demands in perspective, the industry average wage for a bus driver currently sits at R16 000. In stark contrast to this, an independently verified survey has shown that more than 65% of commuters earned less than R4 000 in 2016.

“This means that, if a 7% increase is factored in over the last two years, the average commuter earns less than a third of what a bus driver earns in 2018.

“A 12% increase and a concession to other demands from labour would further widen the increasing gap between what drivers and commuters earn,” he said.