Post Office workers embark on strike action
SAPO notifies customers and the public that it will be affected by the Communication Workers Union (CWU) planned Telecommunications and Postal industry-wide industrial action, also affecting SENTECH and BROADBAND INFRACO, on 26 September 2017.
Mark Barnes, SAPO Group CEO on Friday said the CWU issued SAPO with a 48-hour notice on Wednesday.
“Our information is that the industrial action will mainly take the form of union members’ marches to various seats of government nationally,” he said. “Given that the CWU has active membership in our employee base, SAPO has put contingency plans in place to ensure minimum impact on service delivery. All Post Office branches will also be open for business on the day.”
SAPO received a funding injection in 2016 and that was largely used to settle long outstanding creditors as well as unresolved wage commitments to the employees, thus contributing to the stability in labour relations.
“While we have steadily progressed well, SAPOs revenues have not increased as anticipated, accordingly making it difficult to fund salary increases in the current negotiating cycle,” Barnes said.
He added that SAPO’s management remains committed to working together with the unions towards a long-term sustainable solution that will be beneficial to all parties concerned, particularly employees. “Through our collaborative efforts with the unions, SAPO has now had stable labour relations for the past three years and we have ongoing dialogue with labour to ensure that this status quo remains.”
