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Johannesburg - A new wage offer has been
made to railway workers whose strike was entering its third week, officials
said on Monday.
Passenger Rail Agency of SA
(Prasa) acting CEO Tumisang Kgaboesele said he hoped the revised offer would
bring an end to reports of violence linked to the mass action.
Kgaboesele said another
coach was torched on Friday night. "We lost another coach
in a fire in New Canada [Soweto]," he said.
"We need to put an end
to the sabotage, vandalism and intimidation."
The fire brigade was quick
to extinguish the fire, preventing it from spreading, said Kgaboesele.
This was the second such
incident since the strike by SA Transport and Allied Workers' Union (Satawu)
members started on May 17.
Satawu was demanding a 13% increase, while Prasa offered 10%.
Kgaboesele said the new
offer, which was made on Friday, would put some more money into the pockets of
lower paid employees such as coach cleaners.
"Management is doing
everything in its power to bring the strike to an end as this has inconvenienced
many of our commuters," said Kgaboesele.
The new offer remained a 10% across-the-board increase for its 15 000-strong work force.
But Shosholoza Meyl workers
earning less than R60 000 per year would get a 12.5% increase, and
Metrorail workers earning less than R70 000 per year would get a 12% salary hike. This would affect a total of 4 800 workers.
Kgaboesele said it would
address a pay disparity between Shosholoza Meyl and Metrorail workers caused
when Shosholoza Meyl was transferred from Transnet to Prasa last year.
The new offer would be
backdated to April 1. Additionally, all workers
would receive a R1 000 once-off payment in June.
Satawu deputy president
Robert Mashego said the union would inform its members of the new offer on
Monday.
"It is something the
members must decide on," Mashego told Sapa. He expected to have a
decision by Monday afternoon.
Meanwhile, Metrorail in
Gauteng warned commuters it was still only running about one-third of its
services due to the strike.
Kgaboesele said Gauteng and
KwaZulu-Natal remained the worst affected provinces.
- Sapa