Programme to roll out over coming weeks JOY ORLEK AS STRIKE action in the toll industry enters its fourth week without resolution, members of the SA Transport and Allied Workers Union have threatened to stage a secondary solidarity strike to force change. “We have to intensify the strike in a manner that the employer begins to feel the pinch,” Satawu general secretary Randall Howard told FTW last week. He believes the union has been very reasonable. “We have come down from our initial 12% demand to 8%, but the employers have not moved from their 6%. “The only areas where we have made headway are medical aid, provident fund and the 13th cheque.” Howard points to a female worker in KwaZulu Natal who, after 13 years, is earning R800 a month. “We have perceived an arrogance by management who are now threatening to illegally lock out striking workers. “At a national council meeting on July 5 Satawu agreed not to capitulate,” he said. “Our resolve is to intensify the strike by firstly mobilising comrades in our community. “We will then call on other sectors in our organisation, particularly the road freight sector, to demonstrate solidarity with our toll gate members in order to bring the employers back to the table.” This programme will roll out over the next few weeks, he added. “We have been talking to the SA National Roads Agency and we hope we can get them on board,” he said.
