Durban - Workers at petrol refineries are to begin a strike on Thursday morning over a wage dispute.
The Mercury has seen a strike notice sent to the National Petroleum Employers’ Association on Monday by the Chemical, Energy, Paper, Printing, Wood and Allied Workers Union.
Ceppwawu head of collective bargaining Clement Chitja said on Wednesday about 23 000 workers in the petrochemical and pharmaceutical sectors were expected to down tools, potentially affecting crude oil refineries and fuel depots.
The union, along with Solidarity and the South African Chemical Workers Union, has hit a negotiation deadlock with the employers' association over wage increases. Unions are demanding a nine percent increase and an agreement for one year only, but employer associations are offering seven percent as part of a multi-year deal.
The Mercury reported on Monday that the unions and the association had not achieved a mutual agreement in four meetings since May. The latest meeting was on Monday 18 July. The strike will affect the entire country, but will not extend to employees at petrol stations.
A National Petroleum Employers Association representative confirmed it had received word of the strike, and said it would begin on Thursday morning.
Association deputy chairman Zimisele Majamane said their wage increase offer was "reasonable" given that the economy was expected to stagnate this year and that there had been a global downturn in crude oil prices. He said he was hopeful that an agreement would be reached soon with Ceppwawu to avoid a prolonged work stoppage.
Refinery operators, he said, had taken contingency measures to secure supplies ahead of the strike; he previously said the public would probably not feel the sting of a strike. He said that during a strike in 2011 which lasted six weeks, retailers were still able to provide petrol for a month.
The work stoppage could further damage the economy, which is forecast by the Reserve Bank to remain stagnant in 2016 after expanding only 1.3 percent in 2015. Africa's most industrialised economy is a net importer of refined petroleum products and a prolonged strike could lead to shortages ahead of municipal elections in August.
The Mercury, Reuters
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