The United National Transport Union said on Tuesday it had signed a 7.3% wage agreement with the Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa (PRASA) and secured a guarantee that no employee would be retrenched in the next financial year.
The agreement will be implemented across the board for all PRASA employees including those who either belong to another union or are not affiliated to any, UNTU general secretary Steve Harris said. UNTU is the majority union at the rail agency.
The agreement will be backdated to April 1 and is applicable until March 31 next year. UNTU said it had made provision for a clause stipulating that if any other union got a better deal from PRASA, that should also apply for UNTU members.
"This year is very difficult and robust in terms of negotiations. Nobody is blind to the severe challenges PRASA is faced with and its inability to secure its income," Harris said, adding however:
"All of this is no fault of any UNTU members who are mostly expected to work in the most despicable and unbearable working conditions. PRASA can no longer expect its innocent employees to bear the brunt for its lacking skills at the highest levels."
UNTU, an effiliate of labour federation FEDUSA, said it was mobilising support for a strike and other protest action planned for next month by the latter to "force government to take action to ensure that all South Africans receive a safe and reliable passenger rail service and that all employees of PRASA work in a safe and decent working environment".