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South African unions unite in dispute over railway worker sackings
24 February 2005
Four unions representing 34,000 workers based at a South African freight transport company are closing ranks to defend the jobs of 550 railway workers, in a dispute that has been raging since last autumn.
The unions – the United Transport and Allied Trade Union, the United Association of South Africa, the South African Railway and Harbour Workers’ Union and the ITF-affiliated South African Transport and Allied Workers’ Union (Satawu) – have declared two concurrent disputes. These are levelled at both the freight transport company Spoornet and Transnet Group, of which Spoornet is a division.
The workers’ contracts were terminated at the end of January despite consultation between unions and the employer; the unions claim the consultation process had not been fully exhausted.
A number of issues are being raised concerning the company’s failure to convert overtime into jobs, train workers earmarked for redundancy, and redeploy those set to lose their jobs within the Transnet group of companies. The latter has given rise to the distinct dispute with the Transnet Group and runs counter to terms outlined in the company’s social plan established in 2002.
The unions are demanding that the workers be reinstated during the course of an extended period of consultation and until these issues have been adequately addressed.
Both disputes have been referred to the Transnet Bargaining Council for conciliation. The options of industrial or court action have not been ruled out if an agreement is not reached.
“The unions call on Spoornet, Transnet and the Minister of Public Enterprises to meet their moral and legal obligation to find alternative employment for displaced railway workers. We support efforts to improve the efficiency of Spoornet, but workers’ rights must not be trampled on in the process,” commented Satawu General Secretary Randall Howard.
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