Teti workers demand benefits and a salary increase

Five strikers who are members of the South African Transport and Allied Workers Union (Satawu) were allegedly shot by police using rubber bullets near Olifantsfontein Road and the N1 on 3 May.

This is according to strike organiser, Praisewell Nsibande, who frantically called ambulances to the scene.

This comes after a strike by workers outsourced by Teti Traffic to the South African National Roads Agency (Sanral). The workers are hired by Sanral to clear accidents on the roads of Gauteng and are demanding a salary increase.

The workers, whose services normally lead to the decongestion of roads, blocked the New Road off-ramp in Midrand and parked their vehicles in some N1 lanes heading towards Pretoria.

According to Nsibande, other strikers were also allegedly shot and detained by police. “We were walking to Midrand CBD when they were shot,” said Nsibande.

Zanele Sabela, media officer for Satawu said, “The police were okay all day long, I don’t know what provoked them to do this.”

Wayne Minnaar, spokesperson for Metro police said, “We deployed two tow trucks to move the vehicles that were blocking the N1, however, the owners of the vehicles saw them coming and moved them, which resulted in traffic moving again.

“In the afternoon at around 3pm, the strikers were asked to disperse from the N1, they refused,” said Minnaar. He alleged that strikers threw rocks at police who fired rubber bullets at them and some were injured. “They were also injured by the fence along the road as they were trying to run away. Eight people were arrested.” Minnaar refuted claims that the three women and five men that were arrested were injured.

The roads were cleared and the protesters moved to Samrand Road on their way back to Sanral offices in Midrand where they blocked Waterberg Road and burnt tyres.

Meanwhile, Satawu has rejected claims that they are demanding a 130 percent salary increase for their workers.

Teti Traffic’s operations manager, Perumal Pillay said they were going into talks with the union and the CCMA to find a way forward. On the question of the workers’ demands, Pillay said, “We think what they are asking for on some of the pay increases is drastic. We are willing to negotiate on the benefits.” Pillay added that they were offering a seven percent increase on an inflation-based scale.

In response, Sabela said, “There has never been an increase in this company for the past four years. These negotiations have been going on since October last year and the employer has offered a zero percent increase. We only found out about this seven percent through the media.”

Demands made by Satawu:

• General workers from R4 325 to R6 000
•  Basic life support staff from R4 680 to R9 000
• Traffic safety officer from R6 000 to R7 000
• Traffic management centre staff from R6 600 to R12 000
• Senior operators from R13 000 to R16 000
• Technicians from R4 325 to R13 000.