Publications
Partners
Cape Town - The Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu) will meet in two weeks with transport role players in the Western Cape before it decides on a legal strike, Cosatu Western Cape regional secretary Tony Ehrenreich told a media briefing on Thursday.
"We made a lot of progress and a lot of concessions were made. But there are still many issues," he said following a lengthy meeting with Nedlac, the Passenger Rail Agency of SA (Prasa), Metrorail, the provincial government, the City of Cape Town and business leaders.
A strike would see 220 000 members taking to the streets to protest against among other things the "dismal state of the rail services in Cape Town" and the impact this has on its members, according to Cosatu.
Cosatu handed in its Section 77 application to Nedlac against national government, Metrorail, Prasa, the City of Cape Town, the Western Cape government, the Cape Town Chamber of Business and Industry and businesses in July, and threatened strike action should the application not be dealt with urgently.
"We will meet in two weeks to decide if we will go on a legal strike in the Western Cape. They will respond to all the issues in two weeks. If we don't reach an agreement in the next meeting, we will announce the strike," Ehrenreich said.
He said all the parties at Thursday's meeting agreed there was a problem in the rail sector that needed to be addressed.
In its Section 77 application Cosatu listed among other thing that workers are losing money and face disciplinary action at work due to arriving late because of unreliable trains.
Ehrenreich said the chamber had committed to engage with business to ensure workers are not penalised for being late due to delayed trains.
On transport from rural areas to the city, Ehrenreich said the City would give a response in the next two days.
Cosatu's main issue with Prasa is over price tickets and the poor quality of trains.
"Prasa is getting train sets from Brazil in a month. The first will be operational in Pretoria. We want the trains currently working there to come to Cape Town," he said.
