Johannesburg - The troubled SA Post Office will be hit by more labour unrest next week when the Influential Information and Communication Union of SA (IICUOSA) downs tools against unfair labour practices.
Read also: Post Office strikers warn of 'rolling mass action'
The union said yesterday that the parastatal had failed to agree to worker’s demands dating back to 2014. Despite continued pressure, the Post Office had still not converted casual staff to permanent employees.
IICUOSA, which represents about 2 000 of the Post Office’s 22 000 employees, would strike on Monday and march on the Labour Department in Pretoria to highlight what it believed were unfair labour practices at the Post Office.
The union’s general secretary, Gibson Ramoadi, claimed that a large number of Post Office employees had been at the company for more than 15 years, but were still casual employees.
Mark Barnes, the Post Office chief executive, downplayed the mass action yesterday, saying he did not expect a negative impact on operations.
Barnes added that IICUOSA did not form part of negotiations between the employer and labour as it represented 8 percent of the workforce.
“We are not anticipating any strike action in the near term as we are currently locked in negotiations with our employees and all recognised trade unions on a proposal to address past labour issues, and these discussions are progressing fairly positively,” Barnes said.
“It is thus not a recognised union in terms of the rules. However, we remain confident that the span of the issues we are currently discussing will inevitably find a fair balance (as far) as the interest of the SA Post Office and all its employees are concerned.”
The Communication Workers Union (CWU), the majority union, denied that there was outsourcing at the Post Office as claimed by IICUOSA. “Negotiations between CWU and (the Post Office) are ongoing and we are making good strides. Workers affiliated to IICUOSA are being misled by false information of outsourcing.”
General secretary Aubrey Tshabalala said the union would do “just about anything” to be recognised and embarking on a march would only “open a can of worms” for workers and the union.
The Post Office’s deteriorating financial position has forced it to meet with banks in search of a domestic loan package that will be backed by an extended government guarantee. It needs to secure R3.5 billion to stabilise operations.
Retrenchments
Barnes said while unions were claiming that retrenchments would take place, this was not true. “But we are putting together a package for voluntary early retirement.”
The parastatal received R650 million from the Treasury after it recorded a R1.5bn loss due to a wave of labour unrest in 2013. Despite the government’s intervention, the Post Office was not able to hold on to its courier business, a further blow for the troubled company.
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