The security sector on Thursday signed an agreement ensuring there was no repeat of the 2006 violent strike by guards.
At a signing meeting held at the Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration in Johannesburg, several trade unions and employers' organisations endorsed an agreement that would see security guards not go on strike for the next three years.
"We are happy because this was a negotiated agreement and not imposed. Therefore it was not necessary to go on strike," SA Transport and Allied Workers' Union chief negotiator Jackson Simon said.
Security services employers' organisation chairman Costa Diavastos said they were content that a bargaining process had been set up with workers.
"This has given us an opportunity to diffuse issues."
Included in the agreement was that security guards' salaries be increased by up to 11.5 percent and that contributions by both parties to the sector's provident fund go up by 0.5 percent.
The union and employers also agreed that the waiting period for membership of the fund would be reduced to four months. Employees would also now have the benefit of risk cover from the date they started working.
The agreement was expected to be handed to the labour minister before its implementation before year-end. - Sapa