Johannesburg - The request by the United National Transport Union (UNTU) to the Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration (CCMA) to issue a certificate of strike was denied.
This follows a wage negotiation dispute between the union and the Bombela Operating Company (BOC), which runs the Gautrain service.
Gautrain spokesperson Kesagee Nayager said the CCMA ruled that a certificate for a strike would not be issued until all legal points had been addressed. Wage negotiations between the two companies began in April when UNTU was the majority union at Bombela.
“As of the end of June 2016, according to BOC's records, UNTU failed to meet the minimum threshold of 50 percent+1 in terms of membership as per the collective bargaining agreement with the BOC,” Nayager said.
“In accordance to the collective bargaining agreement, the BOC issued UNTU with a 90-day notice period effective from July 1.” Nayager said, during the 90-day notice period, the union was afforded the opportunity to recover its majority status.
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“Based on the collective bargaining agreement, the BOC is, however, of the opinion that during this period the union does not have the right to substantively negotiate with the company as it is no longer the majority Union,” she said.
The CCMA has granted the BOC seven days to file its application to seek clarity on this issue and, as such, the BOC has been granted a point in limine hearing in terms of Rule 9 and 31 of the Labour Relations Act.
Nayager added, while UNTU was yet to respond to the notice issued by BOC on July 1, the company remained willing to conduct a verification exercise with them to confirm their membership numbers and status in terms of the collective bargaining agreement.
“In spite of UNTU currently not being the majority union according to the BOC records, the company has been, and remains open to find an amicable resolution to the current wage dispute.”
Nayager said BOC wished to reiterate that in the event of a strike, it would implement contingency plans to minimise the impact to passengers.
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