Metrorail talks derail

Johannesburg - Metrorail train drivers won't be at work on Monday morning.

They are members of the Utatu trade union, whose general secretary Chris de Vos says a strike is no longer a threat but a reality.

"The negotiations reached a dead end that management [Metrorail's] does not wish to resolve. There is no turning back now," De Vos told Sake24 on Sunday afternoon.

Utatu represents about 4 000 Metrorail workers (40%). Most of these employees work as drivers, tradesmen and technicians.

Satawu is the other trade union in the dispute. Metrorail's spokesperson however says that the company still hopes to find a solution, and he notes that Utatu continues to be involved in negotiations.

"We met with Utatu as well as Satawu over the weekend to seek a settlement. Utatu was involved throughout," Metrorail's Sibusiso Ngomane told Sake24 on Sunday.

"He is lying," declares De Vos.

"We are not negotiating. The time for negotiation has passed. Unless the Metrorail management phones us today and says it has signed the agreement, Utatu's workers will be on strike from midnight tonight."

De Vos was unable to say why Metrorail would have met with Satawu but not Utatu. But he did confirm that Utatu would proceed with a strike with or without Satawu.

Late on Sunday afternoon Ngomane again insisted that Metrorail was negotiating with both Utatu and Satawu.

Metrorail is owned by the Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa (Prasa).

Prasa CEO Lucky Montana last week warned commuters that negotiations between Prasa and its unions were not going well. He said that a Metrorail strike could inconvenience 1.5 million commuters countrywide who use Metro trains every day.

De Vos also said that Prasa's other business, the Shosholoza Meyl long-distance train, would not be affected by strikes. "So far no certificate permitting this business's employees to strike has been received."

Meanwhile a strike in the chemicals sector has not yet been averted. Companies that could be affected by the strike include Sasol, Afrox, Sappi and Mondi.

Thabane Mdladose, deputy general secretary of the Ceppwawu trade union, says a strike decision would be taken by Monday afternoon.

"The employers made an offer of 9% which we took to our members over the weekend. By Sunday afternoon we will have a decision."

Mdladose confirmed that petroleum industry workers "would definitely consider a sympathy strike" if chemicals sector workers rejected the 9% offer. The petroleum industry had settled earlier on a 9.5% increase.

-Sake24