Cosatu calls on workers to intensify fuel strike
The Congress of SA Trade Unions (Cosatu) called on the National Petroleum Employers Association (NPEA) to heed to fuel refinery workers' demands or face a secondary strike by its other affiliates.
Cosatu said it supported its affiliate, the Chemical‚ Energy‚ Paper‚ Printing‚ Wood and Allied Workers Union (Ceppwawu), strike for a living wage in the petroleum sector.
"Cosatu is calling on the employers to accede to the reasonable demands. The federation will be exploring the possibility of coordinating all our affiliates to support Ceppwawu in their struggles…an injury to one is an injury to all," the trade union federation said.
The effects of the strike by 15,000 Ceppwawu members at fuel refineries and depots had begun to bite after filling stations started running dry over the weekend in some parts of the country. The lack of fuel has raised fears that people would not be able to travel to voting stations to cast their ballots in the municipal elections on Wednesday.
The workers downed tools on Thursday after negotiations with the employers' association, the NPEA, deadlocked.
The union is demanding a nine percent wage increase against the employers' initial offer of 6.5 percent, which has since been raised to seven percent.
The union also wanted a minimum wage of R8,000 per month, plus a shift allowance to be extended to temporary workers. They also demanded a one year wage agreement instead of the employers' proposal of a two year agreement.
Meanwhile, the Central Energy Fund announced that fuel price will go down by 99 cents a litre for petrol and by 74 cents a litre for diesel on Wednesday. - ANA