South African Transport Walk-out
Unions at South Africa's state-owned ports and freight railways are threatening to go on strike this week after rejecting their latest wage offer, a move that would restrict the import and export of coal, other minerals and containerised goods.
According to a statement, South Africa's National Transport Union (UNTU) sent a 48-hour notice to the state-owned Ports and Freight Railways (Transnet SOC Ltd.) informing its members of plans to stop work from 6 October.
The South African Transport and Allied Workers' Unions respectively said they had informed Transnet on the same day that they planned to start a strike on 10 October. UNTU believes that Transnet has not yet offered its members a reasonable pay rise.
Transnet's rail and port facilities are hubs for the import and export of bulk commodities and containerised goods such as coal, iron ore, chrome and manganese to and from South Africa, and the strike will add to the economic losses suffered since April due to flooding. The strike will further disrupt the country's supply chain after floods in eastern KwaZulu-Natal at the time destroyed rail infrastructure and disrupted the operations of ports, including the Port of Durban, the largest container hub in sub-Saharan Africa.
Producers such as Thungela Resources Ltd. and Exxaro Resources Ltd. are already unable to use the full potential offered by the surge in demand for coal for power plants due to a lack of Transnet rail capacity.
In an attempt to avoid a strike, South Africa's state-owned port and freight railway company has made a formal offer to the union to increase pay from a 1.5% increase to a 3% increase. UNTU said Transnet's pay rise must at least be in line with the rising cost of living and current inflation.
UNTU rejected the offer, adding in a statement: "This is an insult to our members and will do whatever it takes to help the company get back on track. Our members, and the entire Transnet workforce, are expected to bear the brunt of years of historic mismanagement and corruption that occurred during the state takeover."
Transnet said it had applied to the National Council for Mediation and Arbitration (CCMA) to convene mediation discussions on the current negotiations.
"The wage bill currently represents more than 66% of the company's monthly operating costs. This is unsustainable, especially given the current operational and financial performance." Transnet noted that "Transnet has urged the union and Transnet employees to accept its offer as the best agreement that can be reached at this time."
