LEONARD NEILL
A LAST-minute agreement between road transport unions and employers at the weekend has averted planned strike action.
Five unions, representing more than 50 000 employees in the road freight sector, were involved in the negotiations.
“We have agreed on all outstanding issues,” says Road Freight Employers’ Association spokesman Kevin Mayhew. “These relate to across-the-board increases, various increases for all grades of employees, annual bonus calculations and the contribution of employers and employees to the provident fund.”
Mayhew said that the unions affected might yet show some support for the strike of 700 airport baggage handlers nationwide. The road transport strike threatened last week was not, however, directly related to this action.
He said that the problem had arisen from the annual talks at the national bargaining council for the road freight industry, which was started in September last year.
Gazette changes
These should have been concluded by mid-January to enable government to gazette changes in time for them to be implemented by March.
A deadlock in negotiations, however, mainly on issues relating to the amount of the annual bonus and the minimum salary for general workers, had not been resolved in the stipulated time. These matters have now been cleared up.
