Rail Strike in Natal 09 September 2007

[Kevin Wilson-Smith]

Rail strike hits KZN

Train drivers and members of the United Transport and Allied Trade Union (Utatu) on Monday downed tools severely disrupting Spoornet's freight operations in KwaZulu-Natal.

Utatu secretary general Chris de Vos said Transnet Freight (formerly Spoornet) Utatu workers at three depots - Wentworth and Umbilo in Durban and the Pietermaritzburg depot - had downed tools at shortly after midnight on Sunday.

He said he believed that at least 50% of the freight train operations at the three depots had been affected.

Transnet Freight spokesperson Molotwane Likhethe could not be reached for comment.

De Vos said: "This strike could have been avoided."

He said the union had attempted to meet with Tumelo Mokwena, the general manager, human capital, on Sunday in a bid to resolve the issue. However, the request for a meeting with Utatu representatives had been turned down, he said.

Bad relationship

Utatu announced the strike on Friday.

Utatu deputy general secretary Louis Brocket said on Friday that its members in Durban and Pietermaritzburg had called the strike in response to an "arrogant attitude displayed to the workers" by the local management.

Brocket said that the union and the national operator were locked in court action over management's decision to unilaterally change the way that hours worked were calculated.

He said that while in the rest of the country managers were prepared to deal with the unions and took notice of the court action, the management in KwaZulu-Natal did not.

A statement by the union said, "The reason for strike action is a bad relationship between labour and management, where management expose an arrogant attitude by constantly making unilateral changes to collective agreements."

Most of those striking are train drivers. MetroRail in Durban has not been affected by the strike action.

Transnet National Ports Authority spokesperson Jyothi Naidoo said she could not immediately say what effect the strike had on Durban's port operations.