Cape Town – The United National Transport Union (Untu) said that it had reached the “end of the road” following a poor turnout for its national protest on Friday.
The industrial action across four provinces was to force the government to turn the rail service around.
Untu spokesperson Sonja Carstens said a number of factors had resulted in poor turnout by members.
“There was a really bad turnout on Friday for the protest action which took place in Cape Town, Tshwane, Durban and Johannesburg.
"We are disappointed in our members and commuters for the poor turnout, but this was also due to a lot of false information and intimidation used by their employers,” said Carstens.
The protest action was to highlight the plight for a safe working
environment for members working for the Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa (Prasa) and safe and reliable trains for commuters.
“This protest action was a last resort to get the issue highlighted. It was done and now the ball is in the government’s court.
"We understand that if this was a wage dispute we might have had a bigger turnout but this issue is still very important. The government should ensure that Prasa gives a safe and effective working environment to employees and commuters,” said Carstens.
Prasa spokesperson Nana Zenani said they were prepared for the Untu and Federation of Unions of South Africa (Fedusa) National Day of Protest.
“Prasa recognises that the mass action is not a labour strike against Prasa but a Fedusa-led mass action against government along with its affiliated union Untu as the majority union at Prasa,” Zenani had said.
On Friday, Zenani said Prasa ran a reduced service in the form of a Saturday or Sunday service timetable. No major incident related to the mass protest action was reported on the day.