CWU has revised its offer

Post Office casual workers are adamant that nothing has changed for them as they are still attacked.

Casual workers have been calling for Post Office management to offer them permanent contracts.

The Communication Workers Union (CWU) has tabled ‘final’ offer from 15 per cent to 7,5 per cent to be back paid from April to date, and 5 per cent which will be paid in January next year.

The union argues that its deal might represent a wage increase of 21 per cent by April next year.

A weeks ago, Minister of Telecommunications and Postal Service Siyabonga Cwele called on the employees to go back to work.

The Post Office strike started in 2013 but intensified in January 2014 and it has affected different sectors in the country including business, academic

institutions and the general public.

An upset casual staffer of Randburg Post Office Depot who spoke on condition of anonymity said, “It is strange now that CWU is willing to join the strike negotiations. At first, they told us that we do not belong to them. Yesterday [28 October] a colleague was attacked in KwaThema, on the East Rand.”

Desmond Moeketsi of the National Working Committee argues that “As much as we agree with CWU’s latest offer, we want them to end the

strike. They are the only ones who can stop this strike – for example, 200 permanent workers in Pretoria want to go back to work, but management has

locked its gate.”

Moeketsi added that the NWC was started after the casual workers felt that they were nor fully represented by any union, including CWU.

He argued that in 2012 they entered into an agreement with management to form a National Working Committee, which fights for the casual workers.

“There are 8 000 casual workers working for the Post Office nationally, they earn R24,60 per hour while permanent staff earn R44 per hour. Our

proposal is that we want all 8 000 casual workers to be permanently employed in three years’ time. In Gauteng we have 1 800, of these only 11 are based in Randburg Depot yet, it is strange that they are still being attacked. Yesterday [28 October] one of our members was attacked in Springs and was taken to hospital. This is what we want to avoid,” concluded Moeketsi.

CWU’s Matakana Mothato was contacted but has not responded.