Three trade unions have agreed to adjust their pay demand in an attempt to end a protracted strike by thousands of truck drivers.
This was confirmed yesterday by the Federation of Unions of SA (Fedusa) and the National Council of Trade Unions (Nactu), which represent the three unions.
“All the unions agreed that we have to conclude the wage negotiations now,” said Fedusa general secretary Dennis George.
Two Fedusa affiliates are involved in the strike – the Motor Transport Workers’ Union (MTWU) and the Professional Transport and Allied Workers’ Union (PTAWU). The Transport and Allied Workers’ Union is affiliated to Nactu.
They are not linked to the largest of the striking unions, the SA Transport and Allied Workers’ Union, which is an affiliate of Cosatu.
George said it was decided to facilitate a meeting of the three smaller unions after talks between unions and employers broke down on Tuesday.
He said the three unions agreed that they wanted a two-year rather than a three-year agreement because of the unpredictability of financial conditions and inflation.
The unions said they were prepared to settle for a 10 percent increase in the first year and an 8 percent increase in the second.
Road Freight Employers’ Association (RFEA) spokeswoman Magretia Brown-Engelbrecht said the employers had tabled two offers.
These were a three-year deal with increase of 10 percent, 8 percent and |9 percent over three years, or a two-year deal with 9 percent in the first year and 8 percent in the second.
“We are hopeful that these constructive proposals will facilitate a break in the deadlock and take us forward,” she said.
Satawu, which represents about |28 000 workers in the strike, is not included in the unions’ new agreement.
Yesterday, a Durban transport company owner said that one of the company’s drivers was shot by striking truck drivers on the N3 Joburg bound near Cato Ridge on Tuesday night.
Mark Snyman, the owner of FBN Transport, said several shots were fired at the driver and he knew that the gunmen were strikers.
Speaking outside the intensive-care unit of a Durban hospital yesterday, an emotional Snyman asked that the driver’s name be withheld for his safety.
He said the truck was passing under a bridge at about 9pm when the driver heard a “loud bang” and realised that he had been shot.
Snyman said that an hour after the shooting, another truck was reported to have been petrol-bombed near the Mariannhill toll plaza.
The driver called his employer and screamed into the phone: “Please Mark, come help me, please.”
Snyman used tracker and GPS to find the truck, eventually locating it, stationary, at Camperdown Police Station.
The driver had been hit by a bullet on his thigh and, despite losing blood, had managed to drive himself to safety.
The hospital’s spokeswoman, Tricia Stoole, said that the bullet had gone through the driver’s thigh and into his abdomen. “He lost a lot of blood and underwent an operation yesterday. He should be out of bed in the next couple of days,” she said.
Snyman conceded that it was dangerous for his employees to work while the strike continued.
“I will have a meeting with all the drivers because they fear for their lives,” he said.
He was considering hiring armed guards to accompany his drivers on their journeys, he said.
Police spokesman Colonel Jay Naicker confirmed both the shooting at the petrol bombing at Mariannhill.
In Cape Town, a truck driver is fighting for his life after protesters set him alight in Manenberg.
Another truck was set alight between Albertina and Riversdale on the N2.
In Gauteng, four truck drivers were injured yesterday.
