The Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa (PRASA) wants to talk to the United National Transport Union (UNTU) on how it proposes to implement the 19 points of a collective agreement the passenger rail agency ignored for more than 16 months.
This comes after the Labour Court in Johannesburg made the collective agreement, which representatives from PRASA management agreed to in April last year, an order of the Court.
This means that UNTU can approach the Labour Court for a Contempt of Court order against Lindikhaya Zide in his personal capacity as the Acting Group Chief Executive of PRASA, if the state-owned enterprises continue to ignore the terms of the collective agreement.
All the timeframes set-out for implementation of the collective agreement have already lapsed.
Steve Harris, General Secretary of UNTU, took the matter up with Zide personally. Zide saw to it that managers in his office who did not adhere to the implementation of a lawful agreement in the first place, are now tasked with sorting out the mess they have made.
Up to now PRASA citing its dire financial situation as the reason why it cannot adhere to the terms of the agreement. This will no longer be a valid excuse after the Labour Court ruling which PRASA did not oppose.
The 19 disputes issues include the 45-hour weekly averaging, sick leave, transport for nightshift employees, uniforms and discrepancies in the payment of overtime, salaries disparity and alignment, the acting policy and performance management systems for junior officials.
A date for the talks will be announced soon.
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.
