Lisa Isaacs
FOUR post offices in the city have closed because they can no longer afford the rent due to a protracted strike, says spokeswoman Martie Gilchrist.
“We are experiencing a cash-flow problem,” she said.
But the Communication Workers Union has rejected this, alleging corruption is to blame.
“The landlords will allow entry as soon as they receive their rent. We are doing our utmost to resolve the issue within the next few days.”
The postal strike, in its fourth month, has closed offices in the city intermittently. About 7 900 casual workers across the country have been engaged in a tussle with management over their demands to be given permanent employment.
Yesterday, office doors were chained shut.
Offices in Tokai, Blue Downs, Kenilworth and Westridge were closed. Westridge has been closed since last Friday, while the others closed on Monday, Gilchrist said.
Union general secretary Aubrey Tshabalala said they had heard about the offices closing, but said: “It is because of pure corruption, money has been squandered. There is R2.1 billion unaccounted for. We called for the dismissal of the Post Office board, it has failed in its duties. But the resignation of the board alone does not answer the problem.
“People must account for the missing money. That money could have been better used to develop Post Office infrastructure, but went into a few people’s pockets.”
Earlier this month, the union said dismissal letters were given to striking workers. Tshabalala said the union told postal management this was not appropriate.
“The intimidation and the strike will continue, it is not providing any solution. The same issues we continue to fight for need to be addressed – salary increases and permanent employment. They need to address this to see a way forward. In previous years they (the post office) always sought a temporary solution,” he said.
Tshabalala, however, said the union was still willing to negotiate. “Unfortunately, we are dealing with people that have no real interest in the post office.”
He said the union had already agreed to a drop in the salary increase demand from 15 to 7.5 percent.
“We have made significant compromises to solve the problem, but what do you do when you are engaging with people hell-bent on making the company unstable,” Tshabalala asked.
He said he could not see why the government had not stepped in to bail out the Post Office. Gilchrist could not say if any other offices would be closed.
“Our operations are almost back to normal and we will make sure Christmas mail will reach its destination on time,” she said.