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Johannesburg - Around 14 000 post office workers will embark on a countrywide strike over salaries from Thursday, the Communication Workers Union said on Tuesday.
"It will start from August 20 and will continue until a favourable agreement is reached," said CWU general secretary Gallant Roberts.
The union members would embark on a national stayaway and pickets at the SA Post Office (SAPO) in each of the nine provinces and hand over memorandums detailing their grievances.
Roberts said the union was expected to convene meetings on August 27 with members to assess developments and consider a way forward.
"We have told the Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration that we are only prepared to meet with the employer on August 21 and August 24," said Roberts.
"This is a full blown industrial action and workers will not go back until the demands are met."
The union received a CCMA certificate to embark on a protected strike on Monday and it gave the SAPO a 48-hour notice of compliance.
Roberts said workers wanted an eradication of the "apartheid wage gap" within the post office. He said black workers were earning the lowest salaries.
"It is now more than ten years that we as workers in South Africa have been enjoying the least of the rewards of our hard-fought-for democracy, a matter that CWU is not prepared to tolerate any longer," he said in a statement. John Wentzel, SAPO's chief operating officer, said the certificate of a protected strike had been acknowledged.
"The issue upon which the certificate has been issued relates to salary differentials within the various salary bands."
The issue had been under discussion with the CWU since 2002/3.
"We believe that SAPO has substantively addressed this issue, however the current dispute relates to that component which remains unaddressed. The situation has its roots in history and there are a number of causes for the salary differentials," said Wentzel.
He said it would be "simplistic" to look at the issue as one of race.
"We as SAPO remain committed to dialogue, notwithstanding CWU's intention to embark on industrial action and we hope that the situation can be speedily resolved through dialogue," Wentzel said.
- Sapa
