Pretoria- The United Transport and Allied Trade Union (Utatu) has accepted and signed the revised 10 percent wage offer made by the Passenger Rail Agency of South (Prasa) said Prasa's acting chief executive officer Tumisang Kgaboesele on Friday.
While the South African Transport and Allied Workers Union (Satawu) is yet to sign the agreement, Prasa said the majority of the workers will be back at work today.
"Prasa is pleased to announce that the United Transport and Allied Trade Union (Utatu) has accepted the revised wage offer made by Prasa and signed the wage agreement on Thursday," said Kgaboesele.
Utatu and Satawu downed tools on Monday demanding a 16 percent across the board increase.
"Satawu did not sign the wage agreement and has been given time to consult further with its members over the next few days. Prasa urges Satawu to sign the agreement soon in order to have a full train service on Monday," said Kgaboesele.
The two parties have agreed on the introduction of a rotational shift system as of 1 July. The parties have also agreed to conclude the conditions of service negotiations by the end of June and to implement the new conditions on 1 August.
"The agreement is a victory for the commuters in that it will allow Prasa to extend its operations to 24 hours resulting in improved service," said Prasa.
In anticipation of the strike Prasa suspended all rail operations including Metrorail leaving thousands of commuters stranded.
Meanwhile Satawu is to make public its decision on whether it will accept the offer or not later today.
When coming to the Transnet dispute involving both unions, Satawu said it would also make its decision public later today.
