MEMBERS of the National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa (NUMSA) in the Hlanganani region have embarked on a full-blown strike at Xtremetec, one of South Africa’s leading black owned companies providing Transport Solutions.
This after the management of the Tshwane BRT Agency ‘unilaterally’ changed the conditions of employment by implementing a shift pattern without consulting the union or its employees, according to NUMSA.
The workers, from the three agencies responsible for running City of Tshwane’s Areyeng BRT system, have accused Areyeng management of refusing to provide them with adequate transportation or transport allowance to enable them to go to work.
They accused the employers at the Tshwane Rapid Transit, Tshwane Affected Investment Operation (TAIO) and Xtremetec Management Consulting of not adhering fully to the terms of the Basic Conditions of Employment Act.
“Our members at Xtremetec went on strike to demand transport allowance and we signed an agreement to reflect that. But since then, the employer has implemented new shift changes without consulting,” NUMSA said in a statement.
NUMSA said what makes the matter worse is that the employer has also hired new staff who are deployed to work the shifts that were previously worked by its members.
“Our members are only working from 08H30 until 16H30, while the previous roster was starting from 04H00Am until 21H00 pm,” the union said.
“We served them with 48 hours’ notice of our intention to strike on Wednesday, in terms of section 64(4) (5) of the Labour Relations Act. It is clear the employer has provoked our members into embarking on a strike. This is an indefinite strike until all demands have been met, and the shifts which workers used to have work, have been re-instated. We urge the employer to come back to the negotiating table in order to resolve the strike.”
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