South Africa’s transport strike digs in

By on May 19, 2010

With Transnet and the unions failing to reach any agreement on the wage dispute, South Africa's rail and port operations will remain at best disrupted, at worst shut down, for the full two weeks of the strike that began on May 10th Sharon Gill reports

Transnet raised its original offer of an 8% across-the-board increase to 11% - which is already above the country's current inflation rate

The South Africa Transport & Allied Workers' Union (SATAWU) and the United Transport & Allied Trade Union (UTATA) dropped their demands from 15% to 13%

However, despite the Commission forConciliation & Mediation (CCMA) stepping in, neither unions nor Transnet will budge on the 2% difference

Meanwhile, South Africa's railway and port operations have almost ground to a halt

Safmarine reports that selected ships are being handled in Durban although the gates remain closed The gates are also closed in Cape Town, but cargo is coming into and out of Port Elizabeth

The Congress of SA Trade Unions (COSATU) and National Education Health & Allied Workers' Union (NEHAWU) have announced their "total support" of the Transnet strike, and Passenger Rail Agency of SA (PRASA) has suspended its Metrorail and Shosholoza Meyl services for the duration of the strike

The strike has already produced some incidents of violence, and the longer the standoff continues, the higher the risk that other industry unions will join in, threatening to bring the entire country to a standstill

Not quite what the country needs so close to the FIFA World Cup