Post Office strikers warn of ‘rolling mass action’

South African Post Office workers outside Luthuli House in Johannesburg, where they demanded that the ANC instruct National Treasury to bailout the struggling Post Office. PIC. Lindi Masinga/ANA

South African Post Office workers outside Luthuli House in Johannesburg, where they demanded that the ANC instruct National Treasury to bailout the struggling Post Office. PIC. Lindi Masinga/ANA

Published May 6, 2016

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Johannesburg – The Communication Workers Union (CWU) on Friday warned of “rolling mass action” if their demands for a government bailout for the South African Post Office are again ignored by the African National Congress (ANC).

The union which had anticipated thousands of members to join the march was represented by a small group of about 100 Post Office workers.

Post Office workers, who embarked on a two-day strike on Thursday to press for wage hikes and permanent jobs, marched from the Mary Fitzgerald Square in Newtown to Luthuli House to deliver their memorandum of demands.

SAPO chief executive officer, Mark Barnes, who was appointed last year to help rescue the struggling state enterprise, told Parliament in April that SAPO needed R3.5 billion in funding to help the post office emerge from its current financial dire straits.

When the workers arrived at the Luthuli House, the Secretary general of the CWU, Aubrey Tshabalala, read the memorandum that was first delivered to the ANC in April.

The union said it was delivering the memorandum again to put pressure on the ANC to act on the matter.

In the memorandum the CWU demands that the ANC instructs the National Treasury to inject funds into SAPO in order for workers to receive their salary increases backdated to 2014.

The union also demanded that all casual workers be made permanent by the end of May.

Another demand was that all state institutions and government at all levels use SAPO as their sole postal and courier agency.

CWU has gave the ANC seven working days to respond, saying failure to do so would lead to “rolling mass action” in the form of an indefinite strike.

CWU first division president, Sontaga Mantlhakga, said: “The ANC we see today is a different ANC all together. This is a ANC we don’t know. We are coming again if you don’t respond. We want the Post Office to be bailed so that workers can be paid. The ANC is the only organisation that can do that like they did for the SAA and Eskom”.

The memorandum was received by the ANC’s Krish Naidoo.

Naidoo said it was unfortunate that the workers had to return to deliver the same memorandum. He said the ANC took memorandums “seriously”.

Naidoo said a meeting would be held next week to address the issues raised in the memorandum by the CWU.

“I will be your contact person in the ANC and hopefully a resolution will be made before the end of the year and what can be resolved soon will be resolved, but the long term issues will take time.”

Workers dressed in red CWU T-shirts shouted “viva ANC”.

African News Agency

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