The South African Transport and Allied Workers Union (SATAWU) expresses concern regarding the inhumane conditions subjected to all Transnet workers located at the Port of Ngqura. The union understands that violent taxi/transport-related episodes are beyond the control of management and staff. Conditions of this nature, however, demands that management and organised labour work tirelessly in developing contingency strategies beneficial to both parties.
SATAWU is disappointed with the fact that amidst the ensuring economic crisis, management has opted to worsen the precarity/vulnerability of ordinary workers. Though the taxi/transport-related violence has interrupted shuttle services rendered to employees, it does not necessitate that the employer should violate labour legislation, on one hand, and undermine collective agreements, on the other. Our discontent with management is that it unilaterally changed conditions of employment/employee shift patterns without consultation with organised labour. The act of unfair labour practices has the potential of undermining both industrial, human and social development.
Management at Transnet Port Terminal (TPT) must at all material times adhere to the Basic Conditions of Employment Act (BCEA) by providing transportation to all employees working between 18:00 and 06:00. The provision of transportation is not only a legislative prerogative but a human right won through the enduring struggle of the working class. SATAWU demands that management at TPT withdraw from all forms of unfair labour practices and undermining of collective bargaining principles. The union will request intervention from the Ministry of Transport and Police regarding taxi violence. In the immediate, SATAWU demands an urgent meeting with management to amicably address the challenges at hand.
Transnet management must comprehend that productive relations are not just an interaction between things but a relationship between people. Collective bargaining as a system of negotiation was introduced to achieve harmony between the two highlighted factors/relations. We call on all organised and unorganised workers including Transnet employees to actively partake in the COSATU (Congress of South African Trade Unions) led socio-economic national strike on 07 October 2020.
Defending collective bargaining is one of many themes that will be covered at the COSATU led national strike. SATAWU maintains that the development of revolutionary class consciousness and organisation emerge in the course of protracted class struggle. The planned national strike is, therefore, class struggle in action regardless of contending political, organisational and ideological traditions within and outside the trade union federation.
Victory is certain!!!
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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
SATAWU National Sector Coordinator: Sihle Nguse 082 094 2336