Pretoria - The South African Post Office says it is pleased with the announcement by the Communication Members Union (CWU) that it has suspended its strike over salary increases which has impacted operations.
“The end of the SA Post Office strike is a pleasing outcome and should be applauded, given the negative impact the strike has had on the country. We thank all the unions, the Minister of Telecommunications and Postal Services, Dr Siyabonga Cwele, and other parties that contributed to the outcome,” said leader of the Intervention Team, Dr Simo Lushaba.
“This development will have a direct positive impact on our operations which are already steadily on the upturn as we have been experiencing sharp increases in employee presence at work from Friday last week,” he added.
He said the end to the four-month long strike comes after intense negotiations with the three labour unions that form part of the Post Office bargaining unit – namely the SA Postal and Allied Workers Union (Sapawu), CWU and the Democratic Postal and Communications Union (Depacu).
Last week, Sapawu and Depacu, which collectively represent 50% of the employees in the bargaining unit, agreed to an increase of 6.5%, effective 1 December 2014. The agreement will be effective immediately, subject to a positive cash flow.
Forming part of the agreement is the process of conversion of part-time and casual employees into full-time employment commencing on 1 December 2014. These employees will have full benefits from 1 April 2015. The full conversion will be completed within 24 months.
CWU has stuck to their demand of a 7.5% increase, saying on Tuesday that while it has suspended its strike, it has referred the matter to the CCMA.
Lushaba said going forward the SA Post Office will no longer tolerate any interruptions to its operations due strikes which do not fall within the ambit of the applicable labour laws.
He said the protracted strike had been immensely costly to the overall wellbeing of the SA Post Office and eroded its credibility and the economy in general.
The SA Post Office is on course to stabilising operations.
“As of today, only 0.7 percent of the SA Post Office workforce remains absent from work. Consequently, operations in all provinces are now at almost 100 percent capacity,” explained Dr Lushaba. – SAnews.gov.za
