Wiseman Khuzwayo and Dineo Matomela
At least 16 Engen petrol stations ran dry yesterday as a petroleum workers’ strike entered its third day, Engen confirmed yesterday.
Solidarity added fuel to the fire when the trade union announced yesterday that it was joining the petroleum industry action in protest against massive pay hikes of the executives at Sasol, even though the information has been in the public domain for a long time.
It said the more than 81 percent pay increases awarded to executives at Sasol between 2009 and 2010 had incensed its members, leading them to join the strike.
Dirk Hermann, Solidarity’s deputy general secretary, said union members who were skilled workers, mainly artisans and process controllers, would strike, with 400 joining the action at PetroSA today and 1 500 at Sasol tomorrow.
Hermann added that the Sasol executive pay increases, including incentive bonuses, ranged from 62.6 percent to 100.1 percent, which was about 13 to 21 times the current rate of inflation.
The SA Petroleum Industry Association confirmed that its members had been affected by the strike.
Meanwhile, the three unions in the gold mining sector declared a dispute with three gold mining companies represented by the Chamber of Mines.
The National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) said the firms had stuck to offers of between 5 percent and 5.5 percent against the average of 14 percent demanded by labour.
The dispute will now be referred to the Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration (CCMA). Union spokesman Lesiba Seshoka said: “The NUM views all these offers as a resurrection of the dead apartheid racism reflected in wage disparities between white males and the other.”
The Chamber of Mines said in a statement that Elize Strydom, who is negotiating on behalf of the gold mining companies, was still hopeful that the parties would reach agreement under a facilitated process.
“The way forward from here is that the unions will approach the CCMA to appoint a facilitator. We hope that the facilitator will be able to bring us closer together,” she said.
More than 300 000 mineworkers could down tools by the end of the month.
Last week, trade unions representing workers in the coal sector declared a dispute with the Chamber of Mines after collieries offered a 6 percent pay rise to the lowest-paid workers, and 5 percent to all other employees.