SAPO: CWU membership audit needed to assess looming go-slow at post office
5 March 2015
The Democratic Alliance (DA) calls for an immediate audit of the Communications Workers Union (CWU) membership at the SA Post Office (SAPO) for the purposes of accurately establishing the full extent of union affiliation. This will help provide clarity on the impact on service delivery in the run-up to yet another go-slow at the SAPO and what contingency plans must be put in place to ensure the post office runs as efficiently as possible.
This comes after the CWU threatened to go on a go-slow at SAPO. Comments by the CWU that that the four-month strike that ended in November 2014 would look like a "Sunday school picnic" compared to action planned is worrisome.
Indeed the last strike was characterised by extreme violence, intimidation of non-striking workers, damage to post office premises and vehicles, as well as the destruction of mail and packages.
The CWU's proposed protest action is certain to negatively impact on the entity's turnaround plan and its prospects for a sustainable future.
If the strike is to go ahead as threatened the backlog of mail that still exists, specifically on Gauteng's East Rand, will further exacerbate this situation.
SAPO, facing a loss of R1.3 billion this year due to declining mail volumes and shrinking revenue, can ill-afford more strike action and will ultimately lose more customers.
Strike action by the CWU, especially given that the other two unions representing the majority of SAPO workers have accepted a 6.5% wage increase, is not in the best interests of the SAPO, the workers or its customers.
A comprehensive turnaround plan will be tabled by 15 March with implementation to follow over the next three years.
While the DA does not dispute the workers' right to strike, it is essential that workers from other unions are allowed to continue working, free from intimidation and violence.
Minister Cwele and the Administrator must respond proactively to this threat, and detail what contingency plans are in place to ensure there is no repeat of these acts.
Given the critical state of the SAPO's finances, the time and space must be given for the successful implementation of the proposed turnaround plan.
What is good for the unions is a sustainable and financially feasible future for the SA Post Office - and that means keeping the mail moving quickly and efficiently.
Statement issued by Cameron MacKenzie MP, DA Shadow Deputy Minister of Telecommunications and Postal Services, March 5 2015
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