The majority union at Passenger Rail Agency of SA (Prasa) says it will this week interdict the cash-strapped rail passenger operator for failing to implement a 5% wage increase, which forms part of a multiyear agreement signed with unions.
The United National Transport Union (Untu) said it had instructed its legal team to file an urgent labour court application against the state-owned rail operator, to compel it to pay the 5% salary increase.
The rail operator, which has had five turnaround strategies implemented since its creation in 2009, registered irregular expenditure of R27.2bn in 2018/2019. It is among state-owned enterprises ravaged by corruption and malfeasance linked to state capture, which cost SA an estimated R500bn. Prasa received a disclaimer from the auditor-general in 2019 and again in 2020 — the worst possible audit outcome.
The rail utility announced in March 2020 that it was going through a “debilitating cash-flow crunch” that depleted its operational budget resulting in it failing to pay suppliers and creditors. It has lost an estimated R200m since the start of the Covid-19 lockdown.
In October the same year, Prasa signed a wage deal that gave its workers a 5% salary increase each year for three years — with Untu, which represents the majority of the estimated 17,000 Prasa employees, and the SA Transport and Allied Workers Union (Satawu).
Untu general secretary Steve Harris said they placed Prasa on terms to pay the increase after it failed to do so at the end of April 2021.
“Untu placed its urgent application on hold after Prasa CEO Zolani Matthews gave the leadership of the union the undertaking to pay during a [recent] meeting, but pleaded for time to sort out challenges with the department of transport and with the Treasury,” said Harris.
“The initial extension was given until May 7 2021, but Prasa once again asked the union to bear with them. Prasa is playing for time, while the Treasury seems to believe that it is above the law and can simply ignore collective agreements parties entered into.”
Tensions have been rising between the government and labour since finance minister Tito Mboweni pencilled in huge cuts to the public sector wage bill — totalling R300bn over the medium term — a decision described by unions as a declaration of war.
Untu spokesperson Sonja Carstens said they expected to serve Prasa with court papers by Wednesday at the latest. Prasa spokesperson Bane Ndlovu did not respond immediately to a request for comment.
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