Cape Town - Thousands of commuters had to make alternative plans to get to work this morning as bus drivers went on strike in the city and other centres.
The worst affected service in Cape Town was Golden Arrow, which removed its buses from all operations in anticipation of the strike.
Employers and labour representatives’ negotiations over annual wage increases for bus drivers around the country have deadlocked.
John Dammert, corporate development manager for Golden Arrow, said a strike notice by the two unions that represent the company’s drivers had been taken literally and caused the company to effect a “lockout” of its employees. This was partly to protect the company’s buses and other assets from vandalism by strikers.
However, the Transport and Omnibus Workers Union (Towu), which represents the majority of Golden Arrow employees, has said its members are not striking and accused the company of turning away its members when they reported for work today.
Last week, the Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration (CCMA) proposed a 9 percent raise as a compromise between the employer’s offer of 6.5 percent and the unions’ demand for 18 percent.
“We have decided to wait on the other unions to respond to an offer by the CCMA. Our members have already accepted a proposal of a 9 percent pay increase, and the SA Transport and Allied Workers Union (Satawu) has indicated they will consult with their members and respond to the 9 percent offer today,” Towu spokesman Tony Franks said this morning.
Golden Arrow hit back, with Dammert saying that until all the unions agreed to a wage increase and retracted the notice to go on strike as of Friday, the company’s buses would remain under lockdown.
Assaria Mataboge, Satawu’s national sector co-ordinator, said all the union’s members had indeed been advised to strike until a response to the CCMA’s offer could be got from its chapters.
The MyCiTi bus service issued warnings that their drivers would take part in the strike. The service was running this morning, but Brett Herron, mayoral committee member for transport, warned delays were expected and asked commuters to travel outside of peak times, if possible.
“MyCiTi is running a slightly reduced service. Buses are full, however, on the main route between Table View and the Civic Centre.
During the peak hours, we are operating a bus at least every 10 minutes.
“On the inner-city routes there are buses every 20 minutes, in other words, we are running buses as per the off-peak schedule. So far, no major delays have been reported.”
Mthuthuzeli Swartz, Metrorail’s Western Cape manager, said passenger train services had set up contingency plans to deal with the added commuters.
He said an “improvement plan” had seen 33 extra train trips daily on the northern line since Monday.
Peak services on the central line and Cape Flats lines had also been extended. Golden Arrow clip-card holders have been allowed to use Metrorail trains at no extra cost.
Cape Argus