Bus companies in Springs part of national strike
Putco unaware of when strike will end.
Members of the National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa (Numsa) in the bus sector have embarked on a national protected strike.
The strike began at 6am on April 18.
Numsa has vowed to continue the strike until its members’ demands are met.
“We are going to strike to demand a living wage for workers and their families.
“Numsa wants to inform the public that the decision to strike was not taken lightly.
“In fact, we took this as a last resort,” says Irvin Jim, Numsa’s general secretary.
In Springs, the Supa Bus employees joined the national strike late on April 23, according to HR manager at Supa Bus, Gail Pinto
Putco spokesperson Witness Mhlongo says, “we are not operating at all today.
“We don’t know when the strike will be over, as we are not on the negotiating platform with the bosses.
“We have communicated this to our customers.”
As of April 23, their employees were still on strike and it was unclear when the strike would be over according to Putco spokesperson Witness Mhlongo.
Zanele Sabela, the spokesperson for the South African Transport Allied Workers Union (Satawu) on April 23 said government was facilitating talks between the drivers and the employers.
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“Workers were initially demanding a 12 per cent increase but they have lowered that figure to 9.5 per cent increase in the first year and 9 per cent increase in the second year.
“Employers are offering 8.5 per cent increase in the first year and an 8 per cent increase in the second year,” says Sabela.
As a result of the strike, there has been increased activity at the Springs Taxi Rank.
“We were busier than normal,” says Springs Taxi Association chairman Leonard Molo.
Passengers had different experiences with the taxis this morning.
Beauty Mogashoa, who uses taxis to get to work every day, says there was a long queue when she arrived at the rank on Monday.
“I stood in the queue for about 35 minutes,” says Mogashoa.
“There was no queue. I just arrived and got into the taxi,” says Linda Khumalo.
“The queues were not longer than normal,” says Matshadi Mokoto.
At the time of going to print, it was not clear when the strike would be over.
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