Impact Of Strike Action By UTATU At PRASA
17 August 2009
PRASA, the Parent Company of Metrorail, Shosholoza Meyl, Autopax (trading as City
to City & Translux) and Intersite, met this morning to asses the impact of the strike
action and to receive reports from the various regions. We can report that the complete
disruption of Metrorail Services that had been planned by the United Transport and
Allied Trade Union (UTATU) did not materialize. Metrorail’s Train Service Performance
for the Morning Peak (5am-8am), stood at 80% of its regular service (717 trains).
The Regional breakdown is as follows:
- Gauteng South (which includes Johannesburg, East Rand, West Rand and the VAAL) operated
at 93%;
- Gauteng North (Pretoria) operated at 89%;
- Durban was 70%;
- Caper Town was affected more than the other regions and operated at 31%.
In terms of the Contingency plan, Metrorail was going to run a reduced service of
476 trains, but instead ran over 529 trains. We are satisfied with the performance
of the teams.
At the heart of our ability to deliver these services during the morning peak service,
was the fact that the overwhelming majority of employees did not heed the strike
call by UTATU. Of the 8 111 employees who were scheduled to work this morning, 7
188 reported for duty, only 923 (11%) employees heeded the call by UTATU to strike.
The numbers clearly indicate that UTATU’s action doesn’t enjoy the support of its
3071 members within Metrorail. We express our deep appreciation to all the employees
of Metrorail for their commitment to service delivery, and rallying behind current
efforts to overhaul Metrorail to deliver better service.
PRASA is satisfied that it has done everything it possibly could have done to avoid
the strike by UTATU, and regrets that these efforts did not yield the desired outcome.
The majority of employees have accepted the 2009/10 Wage Agreement, and it will
be implemented without further compromises.
If acceded to, the demands by UTATU would immediately halt the forward March that
Rail Passenger Services are making towards Efficiency and Modernity. The Public
wants PRASA to provide efficient and customer-focused services through Metrorail
and Shosholoza Meyl. Our Customers will not settle for anything less. In order to
take forward the negotiations and avert a costly strike, PRASA made the following
concessions to Labour:
- PRASA revised its offer from 7% to 8% salary increase Across The Board (ATB);
- Offered to absorb Fixed Term Contract Workers (FTCWs) by 1 April 2010 rather than
in a phased manner;
- Offered that employees who are on a Person To Holder (PTH) or above the 50th percentile,
who only qualify for 50% of the salary increase in terms of the Salary Parity Agreement,
will be given a full increase i.e. they would have been entitled to receive only
4% increase rather than 8%, however, Management taking into cognizance the current
economic conditions, decided that these employees would receive a full salary increase
during the current Financial Year i.e. 2009/10, and
- Delayed the conclusion of negotiations on the Basic Conditions of Employment (BCEA),
from September 2009 to 30 November 2009 to allow for more time for consultations
with employees.
These concessions by PRASA were accepted by SATAWU, the industry majority union,
and rejected by UTATU. UTATU came back from its internal consultations and made
a u-turn by demanding that Management re-instate an offer that it rejected on the
22nd of July.
UTATU put forward the following three demands:
- Home Owners Allowance (HOA) and Medical Aid to be increased by the agreed 8% for
employees below the Ceiling, and the Ceiling/Cap not be removed;
- 8% wage increase effective 1st April 2009, and a further 2% Wage Increase
effective 1st September 2009;
- Management remove clause 3.1 of the final wage agreement, which deals with conditions
of service and ensuring operational efficiencies and the reduction of costs for
the business.
The signed Wage Agreement is fair and balanced and was developed to accommodate
the specific concerns raised by UTATU, and the recent about turn regarding the agreement
is a manifestation of bad faith on the part of the Union. The 2009/10 Wage Agreement
is already being implemented by the company.
The demands by UTATU, if acceded to, would compromise the objective of efforts to
transform Metrorail into an efficient and effective organization capable of rendering
high-quality services to all South Africans. UTATU is fighting to defend inefficient
and outdated work practices not suited to a modern thriving business. The union
wants to perpetuate a regime in which the company pays in excess of R300 million
for unproductive work; abuse of overtime and allowances; and preserve a culture
which allows an employee to sign for another who is absent from work, and then share
the extra money amongst themselves; preserve a situation where certain employees
continue to get more money due to overtime claims, twice more than their guaranteed
salary yet working less hours daily. This system is unproductive, inefficient and
costly for the business. This would result in Metrorail getting more public funding
to pay salaries, yet failing to fulfill its number one public mandate: delivery
of safe, reliable and affordable services to citizens. The very survival of Metrorail
and job security for employees would be put at risk if the cost structure of Metrorail
and Shosholoza Meyl gets out of hand.
The 2009/10 Wage Agreement signed with SATAWU will not be changed. Employees have
already been paid from 14th August 2009, backdated to 1st April 2009. Contingency
plans have been successfully executed this morning and will be in place for the
entire duration of the strike to ensure that the impact of the Strike on operations
is minimised. We apologize to our commuters and Citizens at large who depend on
our services for any inconvenience that may be experienced as a result of the Strike
by UTATU.