The United National Transport Union (UNTU) is struggling to obtain a mandate from our members, the majority of employees working for Transnet, on the final multi-term wage offer presented by the state-owned enterprise in December last year.
Steve Harris, General Secretary of UNTU, says that it is almost impossible to justify to our members that they must accept that they will get no increase, especially in their medical aid allowance and housing allowance, for the next three years if they accept Transnet’s final wage offer.
“The reality is that the medical aids to which UNTU members belong to, has announced contribution increases of 8% to 12% from 1 January 2018. Transnet is offering Organised Labour a multi-term wage agreement with a 5% salary increase for 2018, 5, 5% salary increase for 2019 and a 6% increase for 2020.
“This means that for the next three years members will be in a worse position before their annual increase than what they used to be, as medical inflation is known to be much higher each year than the consumer price index (CPI),” says Harris.
Transnet based the company’s final offer on the fact that the rating agency, Standard and Poor, downgraded it on 28 November 2017 to full junk status, days after it downgraded South Africa’s credit rating in totality to the same.
Labour demanded a 12% salary increase every year for the next three years, with an additional 2% wage increase for those employees earning less than R100 000 per annum.
Labour also demanded that Transnet’s medical subsidy and housing allowance must be increased from the current R1 300 to R1 790 in 2018, R2 500 in 2019 and R3 500 in 2020.
The FINAL WAGE OFFER is:
• 6, 5 % for 2018;
• 7, 25% for 2019;
• 8% for 2020;
• No retrenchments for the next three years;
• No increases on any other allowances, including medical aid and housing allowance.
UNTU will give the company feedback on the mandate of our members on Monday, 15 January 2018.
For more information phone Harris on 082 566 5516.
Issued on behalf of UNTU by Sonja Carstens, Media and Liaison Officer. For UNTU Press Statements phone 082 463 6806 or e-mail sonja@untu.co.za.
