• HOME
  • WHO WE ARE
    • Our History
    • Achievements
    • Aims and Objectives
    • External Links
  • LEADERSHIP
    • National Office Bearers
    • Provincial Office Bearers
    • National Sector Coordinators
    • Heads of Departments
  • SECTORS
    • Transport Services
      • Rail
        • Freight (Transnet)
        • Passenger (Prasa)
      • Passenger Transport
        • Buses
        • Taxis
      • Freight and Goods Transport
    • Maritime Transport
    • Civil Aviation
    • Transport Infrastructure Services
      • Tollgates and Road Management
    • Property Services
    • Contract Security
    • Contract Cleaning
    • General Support Services
  • MEDIA CENTER
    • News
    • Galleries
      • Not Silent, Not Violent
      • ITG Global Women’s Conference
      • #Bring Back Our Girls Campaign
    • Publications
  • MEMBERS AREA
    • Why Join SATAWU
    • Who can join SATAWU?
    • Benefits of joining SATAWU
    • Download Constitution
    • Download Application Form
  • CONTACT
  • Cookie Policy (ZA)
Transnet

SATAWU Position on Transnet Voluntary Severance Package (VSP) Process

September 30, 2021Vuyani ValashiyaTransnet1 comment

The South African Transport and Allied Workers Union (SATAWU) acknowledges the move by Transnet to institute the process of granting Voluntary Severance Packages (VSPs) to employees. On 01 of July 2021, recognised unions signed a one-year salary agreement for April 2021 to March 2022. The agreement placed a moratorium on retrenchments. There was no moratorium on VSPs since the process was voluntary. 

On 5 August 2021, the employer instituted a VSP process through a Special SLF (Strategic Leadership Forum) meeting that was convened virtually. Although the process was based on the discretion of employees, SATAWU discouraged its members through internal correspondence not to take part in the process. On the contrary, over 2500 workers opposed this perspective by exercising the capacity to use their agency which must be respected.

Following the latter developments, a meeting was held between organised labour and management on 27 September 2021. SATAWU argued that all vacancies which will result from the VSP process should in the immediate not be advertised externally rather priority must be given to Transnet’s existing pool of talent with a specific focus on youth, women, people living with disabilities, blacks in general and Africans in particular. Transnet was further requested to accelerate its training interventions to close the skills gap should they arise as a consequence of the VSP process. Once all internal processes have been addressed, remaining vacancies should then be opened to the general public.

Although workers are assumed to be homogeneous owing to productive relations, the division of labour, stratification and lived experiences contradict this assumption. Similarly, the use of the word “voluntary” is used to justify the concept of free will. The reality of the matter is that ordinary workers do not enjoy the luxury of individual freedom. The decision to sell or withdraw one’s labour from productive activities is therefore not out of self-selected circumstances but conditions beyond their control. Irrespective of the conditions that influenced such decisions, the union anticipates that relatively young workers as opposed to employees nearing retirement age rejected the VSPs and illusion of “golden handshakes”.

The union believes that a balance between young and older workers should be maintained for institutional memory, knowledge transfer and succession planning. Notwithstanding that vacancies to be opened to the public must not only be permanent but must offer new entrants a significant degree of social welfare in a form of medical aids and retirement savings etc.

The role of retirement funds must be amplified in the reconstruction and development of a post-COVID-19 dispensation. The introduction of impact/sustainable investing through ESG (Economic, Social and Governance) investments coupled with Black Economic Empowerment (BEE) initiatives is crucial for addressing existing structural challenges. Sustainable long term investments in immovable property through infrastructural development and public-public, as opposed to public-private partnerships, is equally important for redefining the structure of South Africa’s political economy.

In summary, the existence of retirement funds and their sustainable investments in community development is crucial for addressing the scourge of poverty, unemployment and inequalities. It is for this reason that Transnet’s VSP process should focus less on aggravating the current unemployment crisis but should provide decent and permanent employment opportunities to the marginalised youth, women and people living with disabilities. Unlike the private sector, a public good like Transnet has a responsibility to advance sustainable development society and nothing else.

End

Issued by: South African Transport & Allied Workers Union

For more information, contact

SATAWU General Secretary: Jack Mazibuko: 082 660 4793

SATAWU Deputy General Secretary: Anele Kiet: 071 021 1903

Tags: Economic, Social and Governance, Strategic Leadership Forum, Transnet, Voluntary Severance Package

Related Articles

SATAWU’s 4th National Elective Congress – a Rousing Success

September 17, 2018Zanele Sabela

A Brief History of SATAWU on its 18th Anniversary

May 18, 2018Zanele Sabela

Organised labour responds to the government’s decision to make Transnet National Port Authority an independent subsidiary of Transnet

June 23, 2021Vuyani Valashiya

1 comment. Leave new

Charles Lamb
October 11, 2021 9:45 am

Can i still apply for vsp?

Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Learn More About Us

  • Our History
  • Scope of the Union
  • Aims and Objectives
  • Achievements

Get in Touch

Email
Facebook
Twitter
Google+

News Report

  • For Immediate Release
  • UPDATE ON WAGE NEGOTIATIONS WITH TRANSNET
  • PRASA RESUMED ITS SERVICES IN THE EASTERN CAPE
  • SATAWU WELCOMES THE SINGED AGREEMENT IN THE TRUCKING INDUSTRY
  • SATAWU’s Response to Eyewitness News (EWN) Article on the Fate of the COSATU President
Copyright@2018 SATAWU
Manage Cookie Consent
We use cookies to optimize our website and our service.
Functional Always active
The technical storage or access is strictly necessary for the legitimate purpose of enabling the use of a specific service explicitly requested by the subscriber or user, or for the sole purpose of carrying out the transmission of a communication over an electronic communications network.
Preferences
The technical storage or access is necessary for the legitimate purpose of storing preferences that are not requested by the subscriber or user.
Statistics
The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for statistical purposes. The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for anonymous statistical purposes. Without a subpoena, voluntary compliance on the part of your Internet Service Provider, or additional records from a third party, information stored or retrieved for this purpose alone cannot usually be used to identify you.
Marketing
The technical storage or access is required to create user profiles to send advertising, or to track the user on a website or across several websites for similar marketing purposes.
Manage options Manage services Manage vendors Read more about these purposes
Preferences
{title} {title} {title}