The National Union of Metalworkers of SA (Numsa), which recently secured a multiterm wage deal at struggling Eskom, is now training its guns on the Gautrain, where it is threatening strike action over its demand for a one-year above-inflation pay increase.
The Gautrain, which is operated by the Bombela Operating Company, is important to Gauteng’s economy, as it links SA’s economic and financial hub of Johannesburg to the country’s capital city of Tshwane, which boasts the Ford, BMW and Nissan manufacturing plants.
The train, which travels at speeds of up to 160km/h, transports about 40,000 passengers per day and about 12,000 by bus.
However, the Gautrain project, which cost over R30bn to construct, has been criticised by labour unions for not serving the province’s township areas where the majority of workers live.
Wage dispute
Irvin Jim, general secretary of Numsa, SA’s largest union with a membership of over 400,000, said the union has reached a wage dispute with Gautrain management and would be balloting its members about possible strike action.
Numsa is demanding an 8% wage increase, which is above headline inflation, which slowed to 6.8% in April from 7.1% in March and 7% in February. It is also demanding a R1,750 housing allowance and a transport allowance of R2,100 per month for all night-shift workers “whether they worked or not”.
The union also wants a R38-per-hour night-shift allowance, a 55% employer contribution to medical aid, a R15,000 performance (KPI) bonus and a moratorium on retrenchments during the period of the agreement.
Numsa has also demanded the status quo remain on “train rides for all employees coming to work and going back home”.
The reason for the dispute is that the company wants to “abolish staff cards, which allow workers to ride the Gautrain for free when they are travelling to and from work”, Jim said.
“The decision to abolish the staff cards is outrageous, because our members cannot afford to pay to use the Gautrain because it is really expensive, hence the need for staff cards. This benefit has been in place since 2013 and workers were allowed to utilise the train without paying,” he said.
“The company also wants to abolish the housing allowance, which enables workers to access housing. Without it, they would not be able to buy their own homes. Gautrain proposed removing it so it can be built into the wages, but our members reject this. We condemn the decision to terminate the staff cards in the strongest terms.”
The union has been issued with a strike notice and on June 28 “we will be balloting our members in preparation for the strike”.
“We have requested a meeting with management on June 28 and we hope to avert strike action. We would rather negotiate than strike and we urge them to come back to the negotiating table, so we can resolve this dispute. Failure to do so means that, unfortunately, strike action is inevitable,” Jim said.
Numsa is demanding an 8% wage increase, a R1,750 housing allowance and a transport allowance of R2,100 per month for all night-shift workers 'whether they worked or not'.
Gautrain spokesperson Kesagee Nayager said: “The Bombela Operating Company and Numsa have not reached agreement on its wage negotiations, which have since deadlocked and the Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration [CCMA] has issued a certificate of non-resolution.”
She said the company and Numsa had agreed upfront to have three wage negotiation sittings “but Numsa abandoned the negotiations after the second sitting. The third sitting has since been agreed for June 23 and the company remains committed to engage with Numsa in good faith to find an amicable solution to the impasse”.
Nayager said: “Numsa has, in principle, agreed to the following increases, inclusive of a housing allowance, which is contradictory to the statement issued by Numsa that the company seeks to ‘abolish the housing allowance’.”
She said the increases Numsa has agreed to including an 8% increase in basic salary, a R33 night-shift allowance, a R105 night-work transport subsidy, a housing allowance of R1,100 and a KPI bonus of R9,000.
“Numsa is demanding free travel on the Gautrain for workers to and from home. The company can confirm that this demand relates to less than 10 employees based at the depot and it has no impact on operational employees who conduct their duties at stations and on trains,” Nayager said.
“The company remains open and willing to engage further with Numsa to reach an amicable agreement.”
Meanwhile, Numsa on Thursday signed a multiyear wage agreement with Eskom that will see all nonmanagerial staff getting increases of 7% each year for three years.
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