COSATU fully supports the imminent passenger bus sector strike

11 April 2017

The Congress of South African Trade Unions is fully behind the imminent strike by South African Transport and Allied Workers’ Union (SATAWU) along with four other unions in the passenger bus sector. The unions in the sector have already served employer organisations with a 60-hour notice to go on a nationwide strike in the passenger bus sector.

The unions have been very patient with the employers and we support the workers decision to withdraw their labour power. Unions have been negotiating with the employers since January but have reached a deadlock because of the intransigence and the unreasonable attitude of the employers. We fully support the legitimate and fair demands from the unions and call on the employers to accede to these demands to avert a devastating strike. Workers are seeking a 12% across-the-board increase while employers are only offering 7.5%.  We also agree that the bus industry needs to be transformed so that it complies with the prescripts of the LRA. Bus owners need to think about the workers and their passengers and not just about profits.

The employer’s narrow approach to these negotiations is distressing because some of the carnage that we see on our roads is as a result of the terrible working conditions that workers are subjected to. We are calling on the Department of Transport to intervene and work to avert this strike on behalf of thousands of workers and travellers, who will be affected by the strike over the Good Friday Long weekend.

This strike will put a strain on the transport system during this busy weekend and if not resolved , we are likely to see an increase in road fatalities. Government cannot afford to sit on the sidelines because people’s lives and workers needs are at stake here. We also call on the workers in general to support the struggle for better working conditions and a living wage by bus passenger workers. Let us offer solidarity and bring to life the workers mantra that “An injury to one is an injury to all”

Issued by Sizwe Pamla, National Spokesperson, COSATU, 11 April 2017