The Communication Workers Union (CWU) has agreed to suspend its strike at the South African Post Office (Sapo) following an agreement with management that they will engage over the next month to resolve outstanding issues.
The union embarked on a two-day strike on Thursday to demand wage increases and the conversion of temporary staff into permanent staff.
According to Sapo‚ the strike was supported by only about 400 workers around the country‚ less than 2% of the company’s 22‚000 workers. It had not disrupted operations as no one facility was rendered dysfunctional. The union was not available for comment on this.
According to Sapo spokesman Johan Kruger‚ the vast majority of employees believed that management‚ under the new CEO Mark Barnes‚ should be given an opportunity to get the financially troubled company back on its feet.
He said the two parties had agreed on a process to resolve the labour issues.
“Both parties will continue with engagements with a projected timeline of one month. In the meantime‚ CWU will suspend its industrial action and will provide detailed reports to its members during feedback sessions next week‚” Kruger said.
Sapo CEO Mark Barnes warned ahead of the strike that prolonged industrial action would cripple Sapo‚ which is weighed down by a mountain of debt.
- TMG Digital/BDLive
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