Truck drivers' strike: Violence identifies need for new legislation

The ongoing violence and intimidation exhibited by striking truck drivers reached unacceptable proportions yesterday. For the past four days, the strike has systematically become more and more violent.

The strike began on Monday, with violence breaking out after striking workers attacked non-strikers and damaged their vehicles. Four people were injured after the police had to disperse a violent crowd of strikers during the day. On Tuesday, the number of violent incidents increased, with strikers attacking and severely beating a 55-year old man in Ekhuruleni in the worst incidence of violence on Tuesday.

Several other incidents of violence were also reported. Trucks were burnt in Olifantsfontein and Tembisa and a crowd of 100 strikers allegedly attacked a poultry truck in Cape Town with knobkierries and golf clubs. On Wednesday, union leaders denied that the strike had been marred by violence and intimidation and called on striking workers to exercise restraint. These calls were echoed by the ministers of labour and police on the same day.

Yesterday, however, the strike violence continued as workers appeared to ignore the calls for peaceful strike action from their union leaders, with two more trucks being burnt in Irene and another truck being petrol-bombed in Durban by striking workers.

The Democratic Alliance (DA) fully supports the right of workers to conduct industrial action, but condemns these occurrences of violence and vandalism in the strongest terms. By conducting these violent actions, striking workers are unwisely bringing the legitimacy of the entire strike, and the wage demands it rests on, into question.

The DA thus calls on union leaders and ordinary union members to root out violent behaviour within their ranks. This violence does not promote the cause of workers and should not be tolerated by anyone.

Last year, the DA submitted a Private Member's Bill to parliament which deals specifically with this issue. The Bill proposes that unions be made jointly liable for the damage caused by violent strikers, and would therefore compel unions to prevent any violent behaviour within their ranks. Within the context of these most recent strikes, the DA calls on ANC members in parliament to endorse this Bill and to support it when it comes before parliament in March.

It would help to put a stop to strike violence and would therefore be in the interest of all parties involved - including ordinary union members. These union members simply want to exercise their rights to industrial action in order to negotiate for better wages - an ideal the DA supports, but this right is constantly undermined by a minority of union members who continually resort to violence.

Statement issued by Ian Ollis, MP, Democratic Alliance Shadow Minister of Labour, February 18 2011

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