SA railway services running despite strike action by unions – Prasa

The Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa (Prasa) said on Friday train services were running smoothly despite FEDUSA and UNTU union members embarking on a strike.

Non-union members are not striking

Prasa spokesperson Nana Zenani said employees not affiliated to Federation of Unions of South Africa (FEDUSA) and United National Transport Union (UNTU) members were not on strike.

As a result, only a few employees had not reported to work while some only reported at certain times and the trains are running according to Prasa,

“There have been no incidents reported thus far,” she said.

Marches had been planned in Cape Town, Johannesburg, Durban and Pretoria on Friday morning to protest poor and dangerous passenger train services.

Unions have pointed to perpetually late trains, deliberate acts of arson and endless fatal accidents as key points of contention.

“FEDUSA wants President Cyril Ramaphosa to declare the passenger rail crisis a national disaster and deploy the army to stabilize the situation while crafting a decisive way forward,” FEDUSA spokesperson Frank Nxumalo said.

Trust has been destroyed

In the leadup to the strike PRASA chief executive Nkosinathi Sishi stated the strike was primarily about the trust relationship between employee and employer.

“It’s a loss to the workers and destroys the relationship that is built between employer and employee. The trust relationships will need to be worked on again,” Shishi said.

“However, it is important for me to say that the strike, is not against PRASA as a business, but the strikers’ concerns are about issues of how as a country we are investing in rail and PRASA.

“As PRASA, we are affected as the majority of our employees that are members of FEDUSA, will be participating. Particularly those who are train drivers and technical staff closer to the rail functions.”

– African News Agency (ANA), Editing by Stella Mapenzauswa, additional edits by Nick Krige