Putco workers have gone on strike over salary hikes and unpaid bonuses from 2020.
- Putco employees have accepted a 6% pay offer to be paid from October 1.
- Company spokeswoman Lindakuhle Xulu said the wage increases will not be retroactive to 2020, as workers originally demanded.
- The 105 employees fired last week will be allowed to appeal their dismissals.
Putco workers accepted the 6% salary offer after a series of meetings between the company and the unions.
Putco spokesperson Lindakuhle Xulu said the Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration (CCMA) facilitated the three-day meetings.
The meetings came after workers at the Dobsonville and Roseville depots went on strike over pay rises and unpaid bonuses from 2020.
Putco applied for an exemption to the SA Road Passenger Bargaining Board (SARPBAC), saying it could not afford the payments due to the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Ciulu said on Tuesday that Putco had withdrawn that request and employees would receive a pay rise from October 1 with no arrears in 2020.
“On October 1, 2022, the company will increase wages by 6% for all employees who worked for Putco on April 1, 2020 and continue to work after this agreement. The wage increase will not have a retroactive date,” said Syulu.
READ | Putco fires 105 workers over misconduct, intimidation after week’s pay, bonus strike
He said that the increase will not apply to workers who received a 6% salary agreement last year.
Siulu added that the layoffs of 105 drivers and technical staff affected by Putco last week are still in effect. However, they can appeal their dismissal through their unions no later than Friday.
A group of 1,000 workers involved in the illegal strike were fired for misconduct, intimidation and blocking entry and exit points at Putco warehouses, preventing workers from entering and leaving the premises.
67 of them are conductor drivers, 38 are technical personnel.
Siulu said all five unions had agreed that none of their members would engage in an unprotected strike and that disputes would be resolved through proper legal channels.
