Rustenburg - Striking bus drivers met with commuters on Monday, in Rustenburg in an attempt to help push for a better wage.
"We want to urge passengers to know and understand that its not us refusing transport [buses] on the road. Thus, they must join us in the fight against people who don't care about them," SA Federation of Trade Unions (Saftu) provincial convener in the North West, Puseletso Molise, said.
He said the aim of the meeting was to engage commuters to work with bus drivers and unions, not against them and should an agreement be reached bus drivers would be ready to return to work saying there was only one percent standing in their way.
"Our society is suffering because buses are the most used mode of transport. We are not gong back on our demands. That is why we are appealing to the commuters to join us in this fight," he said.
"Wage negotiations started on February 22 but, to this day nothing has happened. We requested a 9.5 percent increase for the first year. We moved from 15 percent to this because we want stability in the country. But our employers are stuck on eight percent refusing to give us that one percent to meet our nine percent demand."