In an unprecedented move, some of the five companies that have applied to be exempted from complying with the recent bus sector wage agreement want the agreement declared unlawful, unfair and unconstitutional.
The country’s biggest passenger bus companies — Algoa, Golden Arrow and Putco — have along with Amogelang and Phumatra Transport Enterprise requested the South African Road Passenger Bargaining Council (Sarpbac) to exclude them from some of the agreement’s terms.
In May, the companies engaged in wage negotiations with unions and following a 26-day strike agreed that workers would receive a 9% wage hike in the first year and 8% in 2019.
The strike has, according to the Sarpbac, set workers back, after they lost portions of their wages due to the no-work, no-pay rule. Now the likelihood was that some would never see a cent from the increases they sacrificed their wages for.
However, it is the effect of seeking to declare the deal unlawful and unconstitutional that has unions and some in the council spooked.
Should the applications succeed after presentations are made to the Sarpbac’s exemption council, this would mean that the months spent negotiating the deal would have been a waste. It would also set a precedent that could see the erosion of collective bargaining.
Unfair deal
Although some companies have said financial difficulties have prevented them from paying higher salaries, others said in their applications that the deal was unlawful and unfair.
Insiders said some company representatives even threatened to challenge the agreement in the Constitutional Court.
Shortly after the bus strike, the companies said they had incurred substantial losses due to the action, even though they still received government subsidies when workers were not behind the wheel.
Unions and council members have been bewildered and angered by the claims, describing them as "attacks" on not only the agreement but the entire collective bargaining process. This was because the companies were party to the wage talks and signatories to the wage deal.
Another sore point was that while the companies claimed they were not able to pay increases, they were also not prepared to disclose their financial situation. "If they are in trouble as they claim, they would open their books and be transparent, and not make comments that the agreement is unlawful and unfair," an insider told Business Day on condition of anonymity.
While the exemption clause is included in the council’s constitution and provided for in the Labour Relations Act, unions felt the system was prone to abuse.
The South African Transport and Allied Workers Union said the trend undermines collective bargaining.
The exemption clause was designed to prevent firms from shutting down due to unaffordable labour costs or people being retrenched in the period following wage deals.
Putco has just finalised the retrenchments of 220 employees and abolished 380 positions.
The firm was likely to receive the outcome of its application this week following a hearing on June 29.
The fears expressed by the unions and council members were that if the developments are not handled with care, they could not only collapse the bus sector collective bargaining but set the tone for other industries.
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