FREIGHT & TRADING WEEKLY
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FRIDAY 30 April 2010 NO. 1908
The Freight Community’s Weekly Newspaper for Import / Export decision makers – on subscription
Transnet and workers still at loggerheads By Alan Peat
South Africa’s port, rail and pipeline systems, with the If the unions confirm it 50 000-strong workforce during meetings this week, in Transnet’s six divisions the country’s transport represented by Cosatu infrastructure could come to a affiliate, Satawu, and the grinding halt next week. Fedusa affiliate, Utatu. That’s as far as Jane Barrett, According to an update policy officer of the main from Satawu, Transnet has put transport workers’ union, an 8% wage offer on the table. Satawu, is concerned. But the unions are demanding The tentative date for the 15% in an attempt to make Transnet strike is next week, up for what it terms a “lessshe told FTW. than-average” wage increase “Our mandate to proceed in 2009. with the strike has been The fact that massive confirmed by the members,” bonuses were paid to she added just before our managers in 2009 also raised April 26 copy deadline. “We Satawu’s ire. The organisation have been meeting with the calculated that the 11 other union involved, Utatu, to executive managers received agree on the date. an average of R2.5-million in “But Utatu is still waiting bonuses whereas the average for its mandate to be approved, bonus paid to workers in the and the date will be decided at bargaining unit was R10 000. a meeting during this week.” These massive Conciliation in the wage discrepancies were said dispute between the two to have fuelled the idea of recognised unions and “inequality and greed on the Transnet came to an end last part of a few”. week without any agreement. There has also been a And this impasse, according union/management dispute to a union statement, could overAM maternity MF00057_2010CTP.fh11 12/1/09 9:59 Page 4 leave. Satawu lead to strike action across is unwilling to accept that the
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babies of manager mothers deserve two more months of maternal care than the babies of workers, and this disagreement has still not been settled. There seems to be a settlement about retrenchments, with the unions having demanded that there be no retrenchments in 2010. But, while management agreed to this, it is still dependent on the workers and their unions accepting the 8% Transnet offering. The offer was presented to a national shop steward’s council last week, then to general membership in the provinces. Satawu immediately received a mandate to proceed with strike action, while Utatu members are still to decide. But, said Barrett, a meeting between the two unions was diarised for April 28, and she expected this to make the final decision on the way forward – including whether or not to continue with the strike next week. C M Y CM
Citrus exports to US looking good
Alex Van Drimmelen, Seatrade trade manager for South Africa … Approximately 2.7m cartons of citrus will be shipped from the Western Cape to the US east coast.
By Carrie Curzon Western Cape citrus growers are looking at a 30% harvest increase this year and much of this is planned to be exported to the USA. Gerrit van der Merwe, chairman of the Western Cape Citrus Producers' Forum (WCCPF), announced last week that MY
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more regular shipments were planned for this year and that Seatrade had been contracted for the job. Representing Seatrade in South Africa is Anlin Shipping. Joretha Geldenhuys, CEO of WCCPF, estimates that around 2.7 million citrus cartons will be exported this year.