'General Freight Business
cannot stand alone'
Leonard Neill
THE SOUTH African Transport and Allied Workers' Union (Satawu) has warned Spoornet management that unless agreement can be reached on the rail utility's recent tariff hike and concession process within the next week, it will declare a dispute which could lead to a general strike.
The union and government officials are meeting with Spoornet at present to discuss the increases. Satawu has accused Spoornet of contradicting an agreement reached with government on restructuring the organisation and called for an immediate withdrawal of the rates increase.
"We are satisfied that they have transgressed the restructuring agreement," says Satawu policy research officer Jane Barrett. "We have undertaken studies which demonstrate quite clearly that general freight cannot stand alone in any rail providers' efforts to make a profit. It must be linked to work with bulk freight . This is the way that railways work worldwide, and it is rare to find any provider that can operate on general freight alone.
"We set up a task force to undertake this survey and it was endorsed by the Cabinet. It means that Spoornet must remain an integrated freight operator, and any diversion from this principle cuts across the agreement which we had reached with them."
Depending on the outcome of the series of meetings now taking place, Barrett said Satawu was in a position to declare a dispute, which could lead to a strike.
The essence of the agreement was that the bulk operations of Spoornet would continue to cross-subsidise the general freight operations, and that Spoornet's freight operations would remain in state hands.
