Bus strike comes to an end

The bus strike which left commuters stranded last week came to an end with the various unions engaged in the wage dispute agreeing to a proposed 9% hike in salary by the South African Passenger Bargaining Council last Friday.
Bus commuters were stranded and forced to seek alternative means of getting to their places of work after drivers downed tools last Wednesday. Unions representing the protesters were demanding a 15% pay hike but had to settle for the proposed 9%.
National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa (Numsa) General Secretary Irvin Jim was quoted in a statement to have said the union decided to end the strike in the bus passenger sector following extensive consultation with regions in all nine provinces.
He said despite being the second biggest trade union in the sector they had to accept this deal which he referred to as a sell-out deal for the sake of industrial peace and stability in the sector. He advised all the members to return to work soonest.
Great North Transport (GNT) Marketing and Business Development Manager, Patrick Monkoe confirmed that their employees had reported for duty on Friday and even managed to transport Zion Christian Church members to Zion City Moria for their Easter prayer sessions. He apologised to their customers’ inconvenience caused by the strike. Monkoe also outlined that GNT’s management was still going to sit down to discuss the 9% increase in order to fully understand what it entailed.

Story: ENDY SENYATSI
>>endy@observer.co.za