Hundreds of commuters were left stranded last week after bus drivers, mechanics and other employees from a local bus company embarked on a four-day strike over, among others, salaries and benefits.
According to Mr Simon Madonsela, a shop steward for Tirisano Workers Union, they do not receive any benefits, annual increase, no overtime and they do not receive payslips.
“We’ve been working for more than five years and we don’t even have employment contracts. Our employer deducts some money from our salaries for the Unemployment Insurance Fund (UIF), but when we check with the Department of Labour office, we find that we are not even registered as employees,” said one of the drivers.
Another employee added that they do not have driver’s assistance for long distances.
“I drove to Port Elizabeth and back alone and the next day I had to report for duty and was refused a rest day. I did not even get a sleep-out allowance,” added the driver.
Mr Madonsela also mentioned that the owner threatens to fire employees when they question him about employment contracts.
According to the union representatives, they have been fighting this with the owner since 2008, and every time they are due for an increase, the employer threatens to lay off some of them, saying the business is not making a profit or even threatens to close down the company.
The bus service owner declined a request for comment on the matter.
A memorandum of understanding between the owner and the employees has been signed and the owner has until end of the month to take action on the list of demands.
The union representatives maintained that if their demands are not met by the agreed date, they are going on a full-blown strike until their demands are heard.
