The United National Transport Union (Untu) has declared a dispute of mutual interest with the Transnet Bargaining Council after reaching a deadlock in the recent 2025/6 wage negotiations with the ports operator.
Untu general secretary Cobus van Vuuren said the union had formally declared the dispute at the council on Wednesday after outrightly rejecting Transnet’s final tabled three-year wage offer to workers.
“Consequently, the wage negotiations have reached an impasse between the two parties,” said Van Vuuren.
“As a mandate-driven organisation, Untu could not agree to an extension of the 2022 wage/salary agreement, which falls far short of our mandate and represents not only financial and economic devastation for our members but also for all Transnet employees.
“We further refused to present this insulting offer to our constituencies.”
This comes after minority union the South African Transport and Allied Workers Union accepted Transnet’s wage offer of a 6% wage increases in the first two years of the new agreement and a 5.5% raise in 2027.
Untu said it was also “deeply concerning” that Transnet’s management had not committed to a non-retrenchment clause, especially given its looming public-private partnership reforms.
“The uncertainty surrounding job security remains a critical issue for our members, and management’s reluctance to provide assurances only exacerbates these concerns,” said Van Vuuren.
He said Untu had placed Transnet on notice this week to confirm that it would not unilaterally implement the wage increase across all employees. “Untu is actively pursuing a parallel dispute to prevent the unilateral implementation of this wage settlement, which was entered into with a minority union.”
