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Johannesburg - A wage deal was signed at the road freight
bargaining council offices in Johannesburg on Friday, ending a three-week long
strike by truck drivers.
The agreement was announced by the Road Freight Employers'
Association after wage talks resumed on Thursday evening.
The strike has been marked by violence which left several
truck drivers injured and one dead, and a number of trucks damaged or
destroyed.
Earlier this week three trade unions, jointly claiming to
represent 15 000 workers, agreed to adjust their pay demand in an attempt to
end a three-week-long strike by thousands of truck drivers.
But the SA Transport and Allied Workers' Union, which
represents about 28 000 workers in the strike, was not included in that
agreement.
Wage talks resumed on Thursday evening, resulting in the new
agreement involving all unions.
The Federation of Unions of SA (Fedusa) said it was elated
that the end of the strike was in sight.
"While we are mindful of the cost to the economy and
the lives lost in this strike, we are convinced that the sector will now
rebuild itself to the advantage of the greater South African economy,"
Fedusa general secretary Dennis George said.
He would appeal to the labour minister to extend the agreement to non-parties in the road freight and logistics sector, to strengthen collective bargaining.
