[150211.EN.LAN] South African Truckers 'To Strike' If 20pc Wage Hike Rebuffed

SOUTH Africa's four trucking unions, representing half of 65,000 transport workers, threaten strike action if demands for a 20 per cent wage increase is rejected by employers.

The Transport Workers Union, the Professional Transport Workers Union and the Transport and Allied Workers Union are demanding wage increases, shorter working hours and a ban on labour brokers from the owners' Road Freight Employers' Association (REFA).

Despite the employers' offer of a 7.5 per cent increase this year, and 7.5 per cent next, the union wants more and its demands extend to housing allowances, extending its bargaining unit coverage to other trades and a ban on labour brokers.

Said the employers in a court filing against the union: "We are not trying to prevent the strike but eliminate from the process the three issues that we believe may not be part of the strike action."

AP Moller-Maersk's unit Safmarine plays down fears of transport disruption as up to 80 per cent of its cargo moves by rail, and it believes short-haul cargo will bear the brunt of a strike.

But Johannesburg Econometrix analyst Frank Beeton said in a report from Boston's Christian Science Monitor that trucking is fundamental to the country's transport as 100 per cent of goods are carried by trucks at some stage in the supply chain.

"This could be crippling for South Africa, but it is impossible to predict until we get a sense of whether this strike goes forward and how widely it is spread," he added.

Source : HKSG.