Dear SATAWU comrades - we stand in solidarity with your nation-wide strike to win higher wages and better conditions in the bus industry in South Africa. Your unity in action is an inspiration for all African unions struggling for workers’ rights in public transport.
The ITF is campaigning for OUR public transport! Public transport is a public service that must be run in the interests of workers and communities, and not the profit making interests of bosses. We demand decent jobs and wages which allow workers and their families to live a better life.
We are 11 ITF unions meeting in Tanzania to strengthen our response to the growth of BRT throughout Africa. We support the expansion of public transport. Our cities are congested, our environment is polluted and our communities do not have enough access to public transport. But we want public transport which empowers workers, formal and informal workers, who rely on the sector for their livelihoods.
We call on the bus employers in South Africa to show their commitment to the industry by granting union demands for higher wages. You keep the buses moving every day! You are responsible for the safety of passengers every day! Your strike has shown that without the drivers, the sector comes to a standstill.
Comrades, an injury to one is an injury to all! We are ITF!
In solidarity
Communication And Transport Workers’ Union Of Tanzania
Matatu Workers’ Union, Kenya
Public Transport Operators’ Union, Kenya
Transport Workers’ Union, Kenya
Kenya Railway Workers’ Union,
Amalgamated Transport And General Workers’ Union, Uganda
Transport And Communications Workers’ Federation, Ethiopia
National Union Of Road Transport Workers, Nigeria
Union Des Routiers Du Senegal
