Unions hope Transnet will listen at next week's talks
March 17, 2006
 By Mzwandile Faniso
Johannesburg - Transnet's response to a memorandum from its striking unions had sparked hope of a resolution of the dispute, organised labour said yesterday, but union officials cautioned against overenthusiasm, saying the course of the industrial action would be determined by next week's meeting with management.
The meeting is expected to discuss pension benefits, the transfer of commuter rail company Metrorail and the future approach to negotiations.
"There's light at the end of the tunnel, but one can only tell what is going to happen after the meeting with management," Steve Harris, the general secretary of the United Transport and Allied Trade Union, said yesterday.
Harris would not reveal the details of Transnet's response to the memorandum before unions discussed it on Monday, but he said there were signals the transport utility was willing to review its stance on the restructuring process.
The unions are protesting against the restructuring of Transnet, which wants to unbundle non-core businesses. The process is set to affect more than 30 000 workers.
The unions want to give input into the decisions on which businesses to sell or transfer and they demand written guarantees that jobs will be secured for at least five years.
Harris said the unions were still waiting for Transnet to set a date for next week's meeting.
"We are willing to meet them [Transnet] any day of the week, including the national holiday on Tuesday, Saturday or Sunday," Harris said.
Gerhard Ueckerman, speaking for the United Associations of SA, said the response looked positive and highlighted the fact that Transnet chief executive Maria Ramos promised to be in the meeting next week.
Jane Barrett, the policy research officer at the SA Transport and Allied Workers' Union, said the union would decide the future of the strike only after the meeting, while Shadrack Ntuli, the SA Railway and Harbour Workers' Union's national negotiator, said he had not seen Transnet's response to the memorandum.
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