Gautrain strike over after workers accept 8% wage offer
A two-week strike by Gautrain workers ended on Monday after workers accepted an offer by the Bombela Concession Company, operator of the high speed commuter rail system, of a one-year wage offer of eight% salary increments for about 90% of employees.
Gautrain workers downed tools on July 30, leaving hundreds of commuters stranded, demanding a 10% basic salary hike, R1,600 per month housing allowance, a R20,000 per annum unconditional bonus per employee, an increase in night work transport subsidy of R64 per night shift and a 55% contribution towards medical aid by the company.
The strike forced Gautrain to offer a reduced train and bus service.
Briefing workers outside the Gautrain depot in Midrand following negotiations, United National Transport Union (Untu) secretary general Steve Harris said the offer tabled by the company would see workers getting eight% salary increments backdated to July 15, raising the salary of the lowest-paid worker to R8,500 a month.
Harris said the employer had also agreed to increase the housing allowance from R750 to R900, and had awarded workers an incentive bonus of R5,000 on December 31, followed by another R5,000 bonus at the end of September 2019, depending on the company's key performance indicators.
The medical aid contribution split will however remain 50/50 between the employer and workers.
Even though some workers still had some concerns about outstanding issues such as the transport subsidy, they gave the union a mandate to sign the wage deal.
Dennis George, secretary general of the Federation of Unions of South Africa (Fedusa), said outstanding issues would be referred back to the Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration (CCMA), and that workers would be back to work as soon as they received updates on their working shifts via text message.
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