Transnet strike update

At the bargaining council Transnet offered a 4.5% across-the-board increase in the current year, which would have been implemented from October 1, 2022.

This would have been followed by a 5.3% increase in the 2023/24 financial year. The offer also included a 4.5% increase in the medical aid allowance in 2022/23, which would be adjusted in line with the across-the-board increase in the subsequent two years. At the bargaining council Transnet offered a 4.5% across-the-board increase in the current year, which would have been implemented from October 1, 2022.

The United Transport & Allied Trade Union has accepted a three-year settlement and will end its industrial action with immediate effect.

“It is unfortunate that members of Untu mandated their union to sign the agreement. [a statement](https://www.transnet.net/Media/Press%20Release%20Office/TRANSNET%20CONCLUDES%20THREE-YEAR%20WAGE%20AGREEMENT%20WITH%20MAJORITY%20UNION%20UNTU.pdf) issued by Transnet, Untu’s industrial action will end with immediate effect after the union’s members accepted a 6% wage increase in the first year. This will put pressure on the South African Reserve Bank, which aims to keep inflation expectations anchored at 4.5%. A few days later, Untu workers were joined by the Untu workers will get a 5.5% increase in the second year and another 6% increase in the third. [United Transport & Allied Trade Union](https://mg.co.za/tag/united-transport-and-allied-trade-union/) (Untu) has signed a three-year wage deal with [Transnet](https://mg.co.za/tag/transnet/).

The Transnet strike is costing South Africa's berry industry R134m a week in exports and putting thousands of jobs at risk, says BerriesZA.

These plans must also include action to clear the growing backlogs across a range of critical industries as quickly as possible once the strike ends.” “That this scenario was not adequately planned for in advance points to poor leadership at the ports authority, which has put South Africa’s entire economy at risk. “With no end to the strike in sight, it is imperative that the ports authority puts emergency plans in place to mitigate the impact on the economy.

Port delays in South Africa have risen more than 100% since the Transnet strike hit supply chains.

This strike will impact those leveraging free trade with South Africa until the dispute is resolved and the backlog of cargo is processed.” “On the export side, we anticipate a surplus of inventory, as producers will not want to slow production if they already have the materials, labour and space to store the goods. The SA Transport Workers Union (Satawu) told Times Live it was “worried Transnet is unable to commit on the no-retrenchment clause”.

Major union Untu has 'insulted' Satawu by signing a 6% wage agreement with Transnet: Satawu deputy general secretary Anele Kiet.

I suppose it would be a good idea to get Untu on for a right of reply and a response to the [claim] that perhaps the deal that they signed is not the deal that their members bargained for. These workers come from the communities that have voted [in] this government of the African National Congress that deployed people in the state-owned entities to make sure that they look after their interests, and it can’t be correct that certain people sit on the board, sit in the executive of Transnet, decide that they only make it a point that they say Transnet is [shedding] jobs. They are calling him and they are communicating to him that they’re not happy via phone. ANELE KIET: We will work with other unions that share the same view that workers who are underpaid within Transnet need to get the biggest chunk of the profits that Transnet declared in the last financial year. FIFI PETERS: There are also reports that one of the demands is around guaranteeing that there won’t be any retrenchments in the year ahead, or job cuts. to Satawu on the basis that they are betrayed by the union. Look, as we speak right now, members of Untu are calling Satawu officials [saying] that this is a total betrayal from the side of their leadership. Even today we’ve been addressing workers in different picket lines where Untu members are part of the strike, and they’ve been saying that they are rejecting the proposal of the CCMA commissioners. Where we are as Satawu, Satawu members remain resolute that tomorrow the struggle continues; they will be at their picketing lines. So you were saying that there was one talk where all of you were at the table, and then Transnet had a separate one with Untu? And also we are disappointed by the fact that Transnet was able to have a bilateral meeting with Untu. In fact, the mining industry is said to be losing around R815 million in lost exports just as a result of this strike.

South Africa now risked losing access to the United Kingdom and other European markets due to the protracted Transnet strike.

“We must remember that those markets are doing business and they really do not care about issues that the country is facing. “Another risk we cannot run away from is the backlog of [shipping] containers that continue to arrive daily [at Transnet ports.] They are not attended to. “Increase in freight costs further put pressure on the profit margins of producers, making us uncompetitive. We would ask that shipping lines, ports and all the logistics providers work in concert to bring normality to our exports,” he pleaded. While the move has been widely welcomed by exporters, South Africa’s agriculture sector is far from out of the woods. According to BerriesZA chairperson Justin Mudge, the strike was holding the entire agriculture sector at ransom.

South Africa's state-owned ports and rail operator reached a three-year wage deal with its biggest labor union, with its members agreeing to immediately ...

The United Transport and Allied Trade Union (Untu) has signed a three-year wage deal with national port and freight company Transnet after more than a week ...

Valuable commodities like iron, coal, and other ores have not been able to move through the ports. - Year 3: a 6% increase to the basic wage; - Year 2: a 5.5% increase to the basic wage; - Year 1: a 6% increase to the basic wage; Over 40,000 employees downed tools, demanding above-inflation wage hikes. Despite the agreement between Untu and Transnet, the South African Transport and Allied Workers Union (Satawu) said that it would continue to strike, asking for a higher wage increase than what was offered.