Long-distance bus drivers join nationwide wage strike

DRIVERS of luxury bus companies ferrying passengers long distances across the country have joined the nationwide bus strike.

This is according to Transport and Omnibus Workers Union (Towu) spokesman Malinge Plaatjie, who said today that the decision to strike had been taken after employers failed to agree to a wage increase of at least 9.5 percent for workers by the Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration (CCMA).

The strike is affecting the Unitrans bus group of Greyhound, Magic Bus, Mega Coach, and Citiliner as well as the Springbok Atlas Luxury Charters buses.

The national strike was initially called last Friday by the SA Transport and Allied Work- ers Union (Satawu) and included Johannesburg’s Gautrain and Putco buses. Rea Vaya bus rapid transit system drivers, also in Johannesburg, joined the industrial action yesterday, leaving people searching for alternative transport.

In KwaZulu-Natal smaller bus companies participating in the strike included Olympic Bus Lines, KZT Bus Services and South Coast Bus Services.

All these services operate in areas – such as KwaNdengezi, St Wendolins, Klaarwater, Inanda, Clermont and Hammarsdale – where commuters depend on taxis and trains as municipal public transport doesn’t operate there.

Plaatjie said employers contacted the CCMA when news of the strike was made public.

“The meeting is scheduled for tomorrow. Even if they bring 9.5 or 10 percent to the table we will take it,” he said.

He said Towu would also seek a R1 800 housing allowance and improved medical aid and pension contributions at the CCMA meeting.

Satawu spokesman, Vincent Masoga, said the strike would continue until an agreement was reached with employers.

“We are hoping that tomorrow’s meeting will result in the end of the strike,” he said.

Metro police spokesman Sbonelo Mchunu said there had been no incidents of “traffic congestion” related to the bus strike.

Erik Moller, the eThekwini Municipality’s deputy head of public transport, said Durban Transport was not part of the strike.

“The Durban Transport Service was operating normally until yesterday afternoon when there were some disruptions in various parts of the city due to intimidation.”

A Bluff woman, Erika Marnewick, who wrote to the Daily News, said that yesterday afternoon Durban Transport bus commuters were left stranded. “In the morning we did get a bus from the Bluff to the city, but in the afternoon there were no buses at all.”

At the time of publication the municipality had said it would check on the status of the strike among its Durban Transport drivers.