Johannesburg - The United
National Transport Union (UNTU) on Monday said Passenger Rail Agency of South
Africa (PRASA) wants to talk to the 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.
“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,” said Untu.
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 would
be announced soon.