Johannesburg - There is nothing in the Labour Relations Act to prevent Transnet from
unilaterally implementing a wage increase that workers rejected, an expert said
on Tuesday.
"I can't see it being a case that Transnet cannot do what they are
doing," said labour law expert Professor Piet le Roux .
"There is nothing in the Labour Relations Act that in principle
prevents them from unilaterally implementing."
Unless there was an agreement in place between the employer and the union
that prevented a unilateral implementation, Transnet was acting well within the
law, said Le Roux.
Transnet spokesperson Mboniso Sigonyela said the 11% wage
increase would be implemented for all workers excluding management.
"It will be implemented with effect from April 1," said Sigonyela.
No talks had been scheduled with the SA Transport and Allied Workers' Union
(Satawu), whose members were still on strike on Tuesday, nearly two-and-a-half
weeks after starting the strike.
"Our offer is 11% and it's still on the table... Satawu can come
in and accept," said Sigonyela.
He said Transnet management's wage increases would be determined later in
the year.
One of the unions' gripes with Transnet was that its management last year
got 14% increases, while workers received 7%. Sigonyela denied
this, saying management was awarded 5% last year.
Satawu policy research officer Jane Barrett said a settlement offer was
tabled to Transnet on Sunday.
"The ball is in Transnet's court," said Barrett.
"Our view is that they are holding the country to ransom; they haven't
shifted in two-and-a-half weeks.
"Transnet has got to balance up the impact on the economy and their
refusal to shift off their 11%."
But asked what the impact was on workers' pockets, who were not receiving
any pay while on strike, Barrett replied: "We don't instruct our
members... they elected to go on strike. They have made the choice."
Satawu was demanding a 15% increase.
Economists warned last week that any strike going on for longer than a week
negatively affected workers.
The "no work, no pay" rule applied, which meant that striking
workers would receive less than half their normal pay at the end of May.
The Transnet strike hasalready cost the agricultural sector more than R1bn, Agriculture Minister Tina Joemat-Pettersson said on Monday.
In addition, Transnet said striking workers had caused R30m in
damages to its equipment.
Satawu issued secondary strike notices to several port-related companies on
Monday. Should the Transnet strike not be resolved by June 1, sympathy strikes
would be legal in these companies, said Satawu general secretary Zenzo
Mahlangu.
- Sapa