Strike two as unions join taxis’ shutdown

Workers to rally for 10% pay rise on Tuesday

WORKERS and commuters must brace themselves as unions and taxi associations have joined forces to shut down the city and province next week.

Yesterday union federations gave notice of a nationwide shutdown on Tuesday, the second day of the two-day taxi strike.

Just a couple of hours after the government unilaterally paid a 3% increase into workers’ accounts, the SA Federation of Trade Unions (Saftu), Federation of Union South Africa (Fedusa), and the Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu) held a press conference in Centurion to announce Tuesday as the day of reckoning.

Cosatu has an estimated 158 000 members, Fedusa 556 000 and Saftu 800 000.

Labour and the government are in a 7-month deadlock over workers’ demands of a 10% salary increase, while Pretoria has stuck to its guns with a 3% unilateral offer. Other demands by labour include:

● A baseline adjustment of R2 500 to the housing allowance to every government employee, regardless of whether they own or do not have a bond house.

● Bursary schemes for government workers’ children who are excluded because their “missing middle” parents are considered too rich to get National Student Financial Aid Scheme funding.

● Access to pension funds before retirement.

● Workers being allowed to cash in capped leave, among other things.

The three unions said government has refused to concede to any of these demands since May. Instead, Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana pencilled in the average wage bill increase rate at 3% in his recent mini-budget.

The union federations said in their briefing they could not sit idle as the government “erodes” the sweat and blood of the founders of the Constitution to ensure that workers’ rights, such as the centralised collective bargaining, were protected.

Last Thursday, the Public Servants Association set the tone for the strike season when some of its 840 000 members went on a nationwide strike over the government’s decision to offer them only a 3% wage increase.

“We call on the government to do the honourable thing and accede to the reasonable demands that will counter the high inflation, skyrocketing petrol prices, unaffordable food and public transport prices,” the unions said in a joint statement.

The federations’ spokespersons Trevor Shaku, Richard Mamabolo and Betty Moleya said labour had workers across the provinces. Moreover, the lunch-time pickets would continue at hospitals and the ports post-shutdown, the union leaders said.

They accused the ANC government of launching a “well-co-ordinated attack” on workers.

Meanwhile, following an ad hoc meeting with SA National Taxi Council (Santaco) leaders yesterday, Western Cape’s mobility MEC Daylin Mitchell made an urgent plea to call off the provincial shutdown scheduled for Monday and Tuesday.

“While I understand and share the leadership’s concerns, in a meeting this morning I again requested that they call off the planned shutdown. Any shutdown of minibus taxi services will have a devastating effect on many aspects of the Western Cape and cannot be condoned,” Mitchell said.

The meeting comes after Santaco Western Cape on Wednesday announced a provincial shutdown or stayaway of minibus taxis belonging to the Northern Region, Two Oceans, Mitchells Plain, Codeta, Cata, Greater Cape Town and Boland associations.

Taxi leaders are demanding the expansion of the R215 million Blue Dot pilot programme, a partnership between the taxi industry and provincial government which will cease to exist by the end of the month unless more funds are pledged and invested.