NUMSA DECLARES A DISPUTE IN THE BUS PASSENGER WAGE
NEGOTIATIONS
10 FEBRUARY, 2017
FOR IMMIDIATE RELEASE
The National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa, (NUMSA) has formally declared
a dispute with the Bus Passengers Council. Since negotiations in this sector began
earlier in the year, NUMSA has demanded a wage increase of 30 per cent across
the board, and is also demanding a living wage of R15000 per month for all workers.
In the wake of these tough economic times, Employers in the Bus Passenger sector
have responded with an offer of just 4.5%.
The response from Employers is alarming, given that several Bus Transportation
companies are guilty of abusing the basic conditions of Employment. Companies
such as - Autopax, Buscor, PUTCO, Greyhound, Intercape, Golden Arrow, Mgqibelo
and all others expect drivers to work 18 hour days, but only pay them for HALF of
that.
Furthermore, our members are NOT being compensated for overtime and working
on Public Holidays.
Workers in the Bus Transportation sector are exposed to long working hours and
poor working conditions, which puts both drivers and passengers at risk. Our
workers and their families simply cannot exist on the low wages on offer whilst the
executives in the sector reward themselves with millions.
Employers claim that the current economic climate means they can’t afford to
increase salaries, and yet, even at the time when the industry was doing well, those
savings and profits were never passed onto our workers.
The CCMA will be facilitating mediation on the 6th of March, after which a strike
certificate may be issued. A full blown industry strike is now imminent, because
Employers care more about profits than people.
NUMSA was expelled from COSATU for maintaining that the ANC government must
address the class question in South Africa. The state must take measures to affirm
blacks and Africans into a position of ownership and control of the economy and
reverse decades of them being economically marginalized and dispossessed. The
government has a duty to ensure that workers are paid fairly and that they are
emancipated from apartheid colonial wages. The government can no longer justify
the continued exploitation of our people. Our workers deserve a living wage, not just
a minimum wage.
We call on workers in the industry to unite and fight for better pay and an
IMPROVED quality of life, particularly in this critical time when the government and
its partners in business are united in a war against workers. This government with
the help of COSATU has undermined workers, first by endorsing a poverty wage of
just R20 per hour, and in agreeing to change our constitutionally guaranteed right to
strike. These instruments of Neo-Liberalism have united to punish workers for
fighting for an improved quality of life.
Workers and their families want to be able to give their children quality education and
healthcare, just like everyone else. Why must we continue to accept back breaking
work, time away from our families, and low pay in exchange for a poor standard of
living? When will workers in South Africa reap the full benefits of democracy? It was
because of the Workers struggle that South Africa is now free of Apartheid. People
died for freedom, and now the very same people who claim to be our liberators, have
turned into our oppressors.
NUMSA is the largest metal workers union in South Africa and on the African
continent. NUMSA is the only revolutionary radical union with a proven track record
of fighting for justice and equality. NUMSA is the only former member of the
Tripartite Alliance which took the moral stance of rejecting corruption by refusing to
endorse the ANC and President Jacob Zuma. We call on workers of the bus
passenger sector to unite behind NUMSA. You have nothing to lose except your
chains!
Issued by: Irvin Jim
NUMSA General Secretary