South African Transport and Allied Workers’ Union (SATAWU) in partnership with the Department of Labour today visited the Vanderbijlpark city centre taxi rank to ensure compliance with the basic conditions of employment.
SATAWU in Gauteng along with the provincial Department of Labour is conducting visits to taxi ranks as part of a programme that aims to ensure that the industry, which is mostly regarded as unregulated, complies with labour regulations. The programme kicked-off in Nigel on Monday and is set to roll-out across the province.
On these visits, SATAWU and department officials check if taxi drivers, rank marshals, fee collectors and administration staff are registered with the Unemployment Insurance Fund and in terms of the Compensation for Occupational Injuries and Diseases Act (COIDA). If not, then they are registered on site.
The goal is to ensure that workers are able to claim unemployment insurance if their work is terminated. Plus as the festive season approaches, the programme aims is to ensure that drivers are registered with COIDA for compensation if they are involved in accidents and injured during this busy time.
The taxi industry comprises some of the lowest paid workers in the country even though it is estimated to gross tens of billions of rand in fares per year. The sectorial determination that governs minimum wages, working hours, leave days and termination rules in the industry was reviewed and came into effect in July this year.
According to the sectorial determination the minimum wage for drivers is R3 218.57 per month, the same as admin workers. While rank marshals and unspecified workers earn a minimum of R2 564.33 and R2 243.80 respectively.
Workers often lament non-compliance by owners. To mitigate this, officials will ask workers for details of their employers so as to enable the department to follow-up and ensure that they comply.
For more information contact:
Zanele Sabela, SATAWU Media Officer
011 403 2077 / info@satawu.org.za