Sunday Times
*Post Office says strike is off, union says it is on * *Loni Prinsloo, Sunday Times Business, Johannesburg, 10 July 2012 *The South African Post office (Sapo) this week made top acting appointments -- and claimed it had put an end to a four-month strike.
But Matankana Mothapo, spokesman of the Communication Workers Union, said no agreement, interim or otherwise, was reached. Workers were still on strike, he said.
Mothapo said the union had been trying to meet Sapo, but could not get a meeting in the last week.
Janras Kotsi, head of the mailing business at the 200-year-old institution, said its reputation had been harmed by mail delivery delays of about six weeks.
"This is unfortunate as traditional post services have to compete with electronic alternatives these days," he said.
Kotsi and Sapo representatives would meet key account holders and the general public to assess and compensate for damages incurred. Sapo would also start this week to assess the total cost of damage caused by striking workers who vandalised equipment and property.
The strike was sparked by casual workers demanding permanent jobs. Some had worked for Sapo for more than a decade.
Talks were complicated by many workers being compromised through labour brokers.
Kotsi said the parties came to an interim agreement in which Sapo would try to improve working conditions and investigate the percentage cut that labour brokers took of workers' pay.
Sapo said this was not a long-term solution. Efforts to reach a sustainable agreement would go on.
Because mail volumes fluctuated, "the Post office will always need casual workers", said Kotsi.
Sapo plans to bring in a third, independent party to help develop a workable operating model.
Kotsi expects it to take six to nine months to be finalised. In the mean time, workers' contracts would be renewed, he said.
Kotsi said union involvement was minimal as workers contracted through labour brokers were not allowed to belong to unions.
Kotsi said unions would be more involved in talks to find a long-term solution. "Workers have been trickling back to work since Wednesday and we hope that all of them will be back next week."
Sapo said it expected mail backlogs to be cleared in the next two weeks with workers working overtime and at weekends.
Sapo made the MD of its courier and freight group, Molefe Mathibe, acting CEO. Prakash Mangrey, seconded from SARS, was appointed acting chief financial officer.
Current acting chief financial officer Nick Buick leaves at the end of this month. Previous CEO Motshoanetsi Lefoka left after the discovery of R450-million in irregular and fruitless spending.
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