Cape Town - The South African Transport and Allied Workers’ Union (Satawu) on Friday made a submission to oppose an application by Putco Bus to be exempted from paying its workers the wage increase signed in May.
“Labour unions and employers in the South African Road Passenger Bargaining Council (SARPBAC) signed a two-year wage agreement in May following a month-long industry-wide strike,” Satawu said in a statement.
“Parties agreed workers would receive a 9% wage hike in the first year and 8% the following year. But since then, Putco, Algoa Bus, Golden Arrow and two others have applied to the bargaining council seeking to be exempted from complying with the wage deal.”
The union said the hearing for and against Putco’s application was heard on Friday in Woodmead in Johannesburg. The company has refused to pay the wage increase and bonuses to its workers despite having just finalised the large-scale retrenchment of 220 employees and abolished 380 positions across company operations.
“Satawu interdicted the retrenchment process but the Labour Court found against us,” the union said.