Johannesburg - The South African Post Office is gearing itself for another strike by its employees this week – an action that could bring the ailing institution to its deathbed.
The Communications Workers Union (CWU), which is the largest union in the Post Office, has threatened to bring the institution to a complete shut down if its members do not receive a wage increase.
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CWU president Clyde Mervin said at least 90 percent of Post Office staff would go on strike tomorrow and Thursday over the company’s failure to increase wages over the past three years.
“We are going to continue the strike. If they (Post Office) want to meet us, we are ready to do so. We have not heard from them yet,” he said.
The potential strike comes as the Post Office battles to contain its fragile balance sheet after losing significant market share due to the five-month strike in 2013, which put significant strain on its ability to deliver services.
The Post Office generated net losses of R1.497 billion in the year to March last year compared with R406.67 million in 2014, and the total assets exceeded the total liabilities by R815.5m versus R2.33bn in 2014, implying the company was technically insolvent.
Last month it emerged that the Post Office owed car rental company Avis more than R50m after the company turned to the high court in Pretoria to have its fleet of 4 000 vehicles returned.
There were also reports that 25 branches had been forced to close because the Post Office could not afford the rentals for the facilities. It was under summons for arrears and was locked out of seven.
Despite the work of a technical intervention team to put an end to the corrosive labour unrest, bring stability to the Post Office and develop a turnaround plan, the stand-off with labour has continued unabated.
Mervin called on the government to bail out the Post Office and said the cost of living had risen.
“Everything has gone up in the past three years, but salaries have remained the same, and workers are worse off. Petrol is gong up (tomorrow), and a loaf of bread is now R15,” Mervin added.
“You understand poverty lines of workers are bad.”
He said the strike was protected and legitimate.
In addition to the increase over three years, employees want the conversion of workers to permanent employees, and for the company to address “equal work, equal pay”.
“We are saying that there are people who are doing the same job but earning different salaries,” Mervin said.
Equal pay
Post Office chief executive Mark Barnes reportedly told the National Assembly’s post and telecommunications oversight committee last month that many of the company’s creditors had been extremely lenient, some not having been paid for a year, but some were now facing bankruptcy themselves as a result of the outstanding debt.
The company has previously said the deterioration of the group’s liquidity position was both due to internal and external factors, such as the migration of customers towards digital communication, a general decline in mail business volumes and revenue, and an inappropriate and inefficient business model.
The strike coupled with the departure of members of the then board of directors led to the administration process on the Post Office.
The Post Office was not immediately available for comment.
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