Golden Arrow, MyCiTi to suspend service after strike announced
Golden Arrow Bus Services staff around the country will go on strike later this week after wage negotiations deadlocked, the company said in a statement on Monday.
The MyCiTi bus service in Cape Town would be suspended for the same reason.
Golden Arrow said unions that were party to the South African Road Passenger Bargaining Council had given notice of their intention to go on strike from Wednesday.
The company said it was not in a position to remedy the situation, as the council comprised employer associations and unions representing the entire local bus industry.
"As a result of the strike action, Golden Arrow will institute a company-wide lock-out in order to ensure the safety of our passengers and staff for the duration of the strike."
GOLDEN ARROW 'HOPEFUL'
All services will be suspended from Wednesday until further notice.
"This decision is not one which is taken lightly and we remain ever cognisant of the integral role that our services play in the lives of our passengers."
Golden Arrow said it remained hopeful that all parties would return to the bargaining table.
Weekly and monthly clip cards that are valid when the strike commences will be extended when the service resumes, it said.
In Cape Town, there would be no MyCiTi trunk or feeder services available as from Wednesday morning, for as long as the strike and lock-out continued, said transport mayoral committee member Brett Herron.
"We regret the inconvenience caused and the additional pressure it places on commuters to make alternative travel arrangements," he said on Monday.
"The strike will have a serious knock-on effect on all public transport and road-based traffic as nearly 71 000 commuters make use of the MyCiTi service on any given weekday."
The city would engage with Metrorail and the South African National Taxi Council to see how they could assist in accommodating commuters.
Herron said they expected a significant increase in the number of vehicles on the roads, as commuters would either opt for minibus taxis or use their own private vehicles to get to work and back.
"I therefore want to call on private businesses in Cape Town to consider implementing flexible working hours or remote working arrangements for employees where possible and practical for the duration of the strike action."
Car-pooling was another option.
Comments
Press Office
Announcements
What's On
Subscribe to improve your user experience...
Option 1 (equivalent of R125 a month):
Receive a weekly copy of Creamer Media's Engineering News & Mining Weekly magazine
(print copy for those in South Africa and e-magazine for those outside of South Africa)
Receive daily email newsletters
Access to full search results
Access archive of magazine back copies
Access to Projects in Progress
Access to ONE Research Report of your choice in PDF format
Option 2 (equivalent of R375 a month):
All benefits from Option 1
PLUS
Access to Creamer Media's Research Channel Africa for ALL Research Reports, in PDF format, on various industrial and mining sectors
including Electricity; Water; Energy Transition; Hydrogen; Roads, Rail and Ports; Coal; Gold; Platinum; Battery Metals; etc.
Already a subscriber?
Forgotten your password?
Receive weekly copy of Creamer Media's Engineering News & Mining Weekly magazine (print copy for those in South Africa and e-magazine for those outside of South Africa)
➕
Recieve daily email newsletters
➕
Access to full search results
➕
Access archive of magazine back copies
➕
Access to Projects in Progress
➕
Access to ONE Research Report of your choice in PDF format
RESEARCH CHANNEL AFRICA
R4500 (equivalent of R375 a month)
SUBSCRIBEAll benefits from Option 1
➕
Access to Creamer Media's Research Channel Africa for ALL Research Reports on various industrial and mining sectors, in PDF format, including on:
Electricity
➕
Water
➕
Energy Transition
➕
Hydrogen
➕
Roads, Rail and Ports
➕
Coal
➕
Gold
➕
Platinum
➕
Battery Metals
➕
etc.
Receive all benefits from Option 1 or Option 2 delivered to numerous people at your company
➕
Multiple User names and Passwords for simultaneous log-ins
➕
Intranet integration access to all in your organisation