Putco to operate Thursday despite Numsa strike
“So far we are not intending on suspending our services as we cannot pre-empt how we are going to be affected.”
Bus company Putco has assured residents of Pretoria that the service will be available on Thursday ahead of the Easter weekend.
National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa (Numsa) has threatened a national strike in the bus passenger sector on Thursday.
Putco spokesperson Lindokuhle Xulu told Rekord that the company was aware of the Numsa nationwide strike but his company had not yet received any notice to down tool from its unions.
“So far we are not intending on suspending our services as we cannot pre-empt how we are going to be affected, but we will await the notice before we can communicate with our passengers,” Xulu said.
He added that if unions serve the company a notice, then its operations will be affected if staff affiliated with such unions go on strike.
“What we can do is assess the situation after we have received the notices then will be able to communicate with our passengers on what strategies will be formulated.”
Furthermore, Xulu said so far the company was only aware of one union which intends on going on strike.
Numsa confirmed that it had obtained a certificate to embark on a protest. It added that if the employers did not come back to the negotiations table, it will be left with no choice but to resort to full-blown strike action which would have a negative impact on the upcoming Easter weekend.
The union is proposing a two-year agreement from April 1, 2023 to March 31, 2025 of 7% increase to the minimum wage each year, and that all employees receive a 7% increase to all other allowances.
But employers have proposed that increase to health insurance or primary healthcare, as it is referred to in the proposed agreement, be negotiated at company or plant level instead of the national bargaining forum (NBF).
Numsa said it has been trying from as early as January to negotiate with employers via the SA road passenger bargaining council.
Union spokesperson Phakamile Majola said despite Numsa declaring dispute in February, employers were stubbornly refusing to give workers a meaningful increase.
“The issue which has triggered the strike is that the employer refuses to negotiate health insurance benefits. Workers in the sector do not have any kind of medical aid or medical insurance at all,” said Majola.
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