The SA Transport and Allied Workers Union (Satawu), one of the leading unions at state-owned freight rail and logistics company Transnet, has threatened to down tools if management fails to table a revised offer within the 30-day cooling-off period declared after a strike certificate was issued when parties failed to break a wage deadlock.
Transnet, Satawu and the United National Transport Union (Untu) had been in wage negotiations since May and after three rounds of talks the parties reached a deadlock, which the two unions, which are demanding inflation-beating increases, referred to the Transnet Bargaining Council for resolution.
When the dispute resolution process on August 24-25 failed to broker a wage hike agreement, a strike certificate was issued that allows workers to take industrial action.
Transnet, which has been trying to clean up the rot within the entity — which has been hollowed out by years of corruption, maladministration and malfeasance linked to state capture — posted R5bn in earnings in the 2021/2022 financial year. This is despite facing challenges including theft and vandalism of its infrastructure, a cyberattack that paralysed the country’s ports, the July 2021 unrest in Gauteng and KwaZulu-Natal, and a shortage of locomotives.
Transnet’s revenue increased 1.8% to R68.5bn during 2021/2022, “in line with increased petroleum and container volumes due mainly to improved economic conditions”.
Satawu general secretary Jack Mazibuko told Business Day on Monday that Untu and Satawu kicked off the wage talks with an initial demand for a 13% across-the-board increase, which was later revised to 12% over three years. He said the employer initially tabled a 0% increase, which the unions rejected, spurring the employer to table a revised one-year, 1.5% increase with no back pay. The SA Reserve Bank has forecast a headline inflation rate of 6.5% for 2022.
“While we have moved from 13% to 12%, the employer has stuck to 1.5% saying they don’t have money, but they made a profit of R5bn last year,” Mazibuko said.
Unions across various sectors have been demanding above-inflation increases citing the rising cost of living. The worsening socioeconomic conditions in the country forced two of SA’s largest labour federations — Cosatu and the SA Federation of Trade Unions (Saftu) — to embark on a joint march to the Union Buildings last Wednesday to ask for the government’s intervention.
Mazibuko said: “If the employer does not table a revised offer during this cooling-off period, we will be left with no other choice but to serve them with a 48-hour strike notice and embark on industrial action.”
Untu general secretary Cobus van Vuuren said its members are being expected to bear the brunt of “years of mismanagement and corruption that occurred during state capture”.
He said embarking on protected industrial action is always a last resort. “However, it is a right that we will exercise unless Transnet provides an offer that is aligned with the increased cost of living, cost of housing, medical costs and, of course, CPI [the consumer price index] that has increased to 7.8% in August.”
Untu is the majority union at Transnet as it represents more than 30,000 of about 55,000 workers, while Satawu represents about 16,000 employees.
In a statement, Transnet said that during the conciliation meeting last week management tabled an increase of 1.5% on all “pensionable elements of remuneration”.
“This offer does not include an increase in medical aid subsidy and housing allowance. The increase will be effective from the first of the month following signature of the agreement,” the group said.
“While management has revised its initial offer, the unions have not offered a revised proposal. Their position remains unchanged from the previous rounds of wage negotiations, with a demand for a 12% increase on annual guaranteed pay, as well as other demands, which add up to a total increase in labour costs of 21%.”
The company believes its offer is reasonable and fair, and “takes into account affordability and the company’s current liquidity position. Transnet’s wage bill in the 2021 financial year was 61% of operating expenditure, which is unsustainable.”
“It is unfortunate that the parties could not reach an amicable settlement and that a dispute certificate has now been issued by the Transnet Bargaining Council.”
Transnet said it remains committed to continuing engagements with Satawu and Untu “to resolve the dispute and reach an amicable settlement”.
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