THE violent strike by members of the South African Transport and Allied Workers' Union is set to continue as the union rejected an offer of a 9% increase last night.
Magrieta Brown-Engelbrecht, of the Road Freight Employers' Association, said yesterday the unions rejected the latest offer of a staggered 9%, to be implemented as 8.5% in March next year and another 0.5% in September .
"The strike is set to continue. The unions are reverting to their demand of 12%, which we view as extremely bad-faith bargaining."
She said the association would revert to its official position of 8% for year one and 7.5% for year two.
Satawu spokesman Vincent Masoga said earlier yesterday the union was confident it could end the strike by a few thousand road freight workers by the end of the week.
There have been concerns that a 22% pay hike awarded to Lonmin platinum miners would cause other industries' unions to demand large pay increases.
Truck and freight workers went on strike yesterday morning after Monday's public holiday saw few workers receive the call from Satawu to strike.
The strike came after wage negotiations broke down. Talks have been ongoing since June.
In Port Elizabeth, truck drivers and road freight industry employees took to the street opposite the Mount Road police station, demanding an increase.
A small group of about 80 transport workers handed over a memorandum stating their demands and their disapproval of the current proposal of a 7% increase. – I-Net Bridge and Liam May
