Post Office strike deal is off for now

Cape Town - A grassroots rebellion by Communication Workers’ Union (CWU) members outside the Western Cape region has apparently stalled the deal brokered by Telecommunications and Postal Services Minister Siyabonga Cwele to end the Post Office strike. And the 7 271-member South African Postal Workers’ Union (Sapwu) is also unhappy with the fact that it was a government minister and not the employer who put forward a pay offer.

READ: Minister wants end to SA post office strike

On Monday CWU general secretary Aubrey Tshabalala told Fin24 that he was confident the minister’s deal would be accepted on the same night, and that the strike by CWU members would be called off. 

READ: End to Post Office strike may be imminent

However, at that stage only the Western Cape had agreed to return to work. One of the main areas in dispute is the pay increase for this year.

Until now, the embattled SA Post Office (Sapo) management has maintained that there is no money for any increases. Cwele’s proposal puts forward a 6.5% rise, followed - depending on the financial situation - by more in January.

“This is something that should have come before the bargaining council,” said Sapwu general secretary David Mangena. Sapwu has a scheduled hearing before the Commission for Conciliation, Mediation, and Arbitration on Thursday relating to the pay increase issue. “And we still have to hear what our members think about what the minister has put forward,” said Mangena.

In the meantime, both unions and the smaller Democratic Postal and Communications Union are awaiting the publication of the public protector report on corruption, maladministration and fraud in Sapo. The complaint was lodged by the CWU in 2011.

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