A wage deal was signed at the road freight bargaining council offices in Johannesburg on Friday (12/10/2012), ending a three-week long truck driver’s strike.
The agreement was announced by the Road Freight Employers’ Association after wage talks resumed on Thursday evening.
The strike has been marked by violence which left several truck drivers injured and one dead, and a number of trucks damaged or destroyed.
Earlier this week, three trade unions, jointly claiming to represent 15,000 workers, agreed to adjust their pay demand in an attempt to end a three-week-long strike by thousands of truck drivers. But Satawu, which represents about 28,000 workers in the strike, was not included in that agreement.
Wage talks resumed on Thursday evening, resulting in the new agreement involving all unions.
The Federation of Unions of SA (Fedusa) said it was elated that the end of the strike was in sight.
"While we are mindful of the cost to the economy and the lives lost in this strike, we are convinced that the sector will now rebuild itself to the advantage of the greater South African economy,” Fedusa general secretary Dennis George said.
He would appeal to the labour minister to extend the agreement to non-parties in the road freight and logistics sector, to strengthen collective bargaining.
The rand extended earlier gains to a fresh one-week high against the dollar after the news, firming to 8.5920 from 8.6305 before the agreement. - Sapa, Reuters
