CAIPHUS KGOSANA | You might not like it, Satawu, but the Transnet strike is over

So the strike at Transnet is effectively over.

The United National Transport Union (Untu), the majority body with just more than 24,000 members, has signed a 6% three-year wage agreement with the state-owned rail and ports company, as recommended by the Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration (CCMA). This leaves the Cosatu-affiliated SA Transport and Allied Workers Union (Satawu) out in the cold. It issued an angry statement lamenting “a betrayal of the class struggle” by Untu.

“The decision in question not only disadvantages, but correspondingly undermines the interests of the working class, low-earning employees in particular. This demonstrates that the working class is not homogeneous, but is divided from a stratification, theoretical, conscious, social and economic point of view. Conditions of this nature suggest that petty bourgeois members located in the mentioned union mandated their representatives to sign an anti-worker wage agreement.”

Phew! I had to take a breath after retyping that rant. Have a glass of water after reading it.

Pseudo-militant Marxist-Leninist jargon notwithstanding, Satawu leaders need to take a hard look in the mirror. They are the ones betraying their members. When they first sat down with Transnet, both unions demanded increases of between 12% and 15%, knowing well that no employer in their right mind would agree to such astronomical salary hikes without putting the future of a company on the line. As negotiations progressed, they moderated their demands but still insisted on double-digit increases, while the employer revised its offer to 5.3%.

The CCMA entered the fray with a three-year wage offer that kicks off at 6%, then 5.5% next financial year, reverting to 6% in the outer year.

In a Q&A with Chris Barron published in the Sunday Times, Satawu’s first deputy president Nkoketse Sepogwane suggested they would advise their members to seriously consider an offer coming in at just 1.5% below inflation.

“We’re trying to get them to understand the impact on the economy and that we might lose public sympathy if we reject this. We’re going to our structures for a mandate, but will explain to them that if we reject an offer that is just 1.5% short of inflation we might lose public sympathy,” he said.

Untu leaders and members, on the other hand, used their heads to objectively evaluate the offer and realised they were not going to get better than 6%. Not in this economic climate.

On Sunday, under pressure from members who rejected the CCMA offer, the union desperately attempted damage-control regarding those comments. “We wish to address the fact that our members have not embarked on an industrial action [sic] in the past 10 years. It has been very difficult for our members to even meet basic demands, hence even the NOBs [national office bearers] of the organisation are rejecting the 6% [offer] by the management of Transnet,” it said.

Untu leaders and members, on the other hand, used their heads to objectively evaluate the offer and realised they were not going to get better than 6%. Not in this economic climate. Not from a rail and logistics entity losing billions every year from an inability to fully service its clients, thanks to a perfect storm. Transnet’s rail infrastructure is under attack from thieves who steal its lines and signalling cables. Thanks to state capture thugs, it doesn’t have enough locomotives to pick up export-bound commodities from mining clients. It can’t get spare parts to service these locomotives because Chinese suppliers mired in the controversial R51bn tender to purchase them are withholding parts. The Minerals Council believes its members lost R50bn in expert revenue for coal, iron, manganese and other minerals in 2022 alone because of Transnet’s inefficiencies. Ships delivering imported goods or collecting export merchandise get stuck for days, sometimes weeks, unable to load or offload due to slow systems and processes at the ports. Fuel thieves constantly target the pipeline running between Gauteng and KZN. 

Now the strike has compounded these problems, at a cost to the economy of R8bn a day. Transnet workers have made their point and no one will underestimate their collective power in future. But they must take the 6% victory and run. Instead of engaging in ideological pontification, Satawu leaders should explain to members why 6% is the best they are going to extract from a broken rail and ports entity.

Also, such obstinance from labour justifies moves for the partial privatisation of rail and ports. Transnet has invited private players to bid for 16 slots on its rail network, while a tender is out for the private sector to help it manage the ports. Expectedly, unions are opposed to this because it will eventually lead to the retrenchment of their members. 

Luckily, Untu-affiliated workers returning to their posts means Transnet can restart operations and begin managing the damage done by the strike. Satawu is stuck between a rock and a hard place because its members are also bound by the settlement Untu has accepted. The strike is over, whether they like it or not.