Volume 10, No.2 - March 2001

We're part of the union

Post Office strike

COSATU has given its full support to the Post Office workers, in their strike against unilateral changes in terms and conditions of employment. It condemns the use of scab labour and lockouts to try to intimidate the workers. As we go to press talks to end the strike are taking place. Why we had to strike By Sizwe Matshikiza, CWU Spokesperson

The massive and crippling industrial action that has held the Post Office in a debilitating clasp for almost a month has ended. This comes after a series of very difficult negotiations that were, towards the end, characterised by a win-win spirit.

The essential elements of the agreement, for our union, are centred on the following points:

• Compensation will be granted to workers for the unilateral withdrawal of certain benefits that workers enjoyed in the company, in the form of a R2 500 once-off and unconditional payment which will be paid out on 1 April 2002, plus
• A maximum of R2 500 on condition that the Post Office achieves certain set standards and that the company's financial performance will have improved by the same amount beyond its approved budget, in particular its operating profit.
• We appreciate the fact that the pressure that would have been brought to bear on workers through the No-Work-No-Pay policy will be alleviated through a staggered deduction of the amounts owed.
• We also appreciate the fact that the delivery work done by workers will be recognised through payment of a maximum of three hours per day for work beyond the contracted hours of work.
• We further welcome the clause that stipulates that workers will be remunerated at the rate of time plus one for Sunday work that falls outside their normal shifts, whilst Sunday payments for work done during a normal contracted shift will be at a rate of time and a half.
• The fact that transport arrangements and transport allowances and subsidies that have been in place for workers in, among other places, Witspos, will remain intact until further negotiations, is a very useful point in the agreement.
• We further welcome the commitment from the Post Office that policy negotiations will only be negotiated at national level.

These are but some of the useful clauses contained in the agreement.

Our industrial action and its impact on society

Our union has received a number of calls from members of the public enquiring about our industrial action. We regret that our action has impacted on the members of the public, especially those of our pensioners who rely on the Post Office for their pension payouts.

We are convinced that they have a legitimate interest in an efficient postal service, especially a postal service that is owned by our state. With this in mind, we believe that we all need to find ways of interacting with these parastatals to ensure that they deliver quality service.

We also wish to state that our members were forced to embark on this crippling action after efforts by the leadership of our union fell on deaf ears. On 19 February we suspended a protected industrial action in an attempt to give peaceful negotiations a chance. This gesture was misconstrued as a sign of weakness by management.

This left us with no option but to resort to the constitutionally protected right to strike.