NUMSA FULLY BACKS GAUTRAIN BUS DRIVERS GO-SLOW!
05 May 2015
The National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa (Numsa), the majority union representing Gautrain Bus drivers, fully support the go-slow that took place earlier this morning, Tuesday 05 May 2015, which caused major delays for commuters in Midrand and other areas.
Our resolute members decided to embark on a go-slow in protest to demand a 1 hour continuous lunch break. Currently our members are given 20 minutes unpaid lunch break, whilst at the same time their compelled to work non-stop. The workers have submitted alternatives to the employer and there are proposals have been met with deafening silence by the employer – Mega Express.
The workers have since decided to suspend the go-slow since a meeting has been arranged with the Mega Express representatives. The meeting has been scheduled for Tuesday 12 May 2015, to resolve the impasse.
A high powered delegation to this crucial meeting will be dispatched to meet with Mega Express management. The union will be approaching this meeting with cool-heads and soberness in the interest of our members and commuters. We will refuse any form of blackmail that our go-slow blocks commuters from arriving on time to their respective destinations.
If the scheduled meeting fails to broker a deal or settlement on this impasse, the union will explore other organisational strategies and tactics, based on a democratic and worker-controlled mandate from workers. It will be the workers that will guide the union on the next course of action, but we don’t rule out the possibility of calling for a full-blown strike until this matter is resolved.
We call on the Gautrain bus commuters and the general public at large to be sympathetic to the demand of our members. These are the very same workers that work hard and sweat in order to subsidize the vast section of the unemployed that is ravaged by squalor and poverty, mainly from working class households and slums.
Statement issued by Castro Ngobese, NUMSA national spokesperson, May 5 2015
