By Odwa Mkentane
The National Union for All Sectors (NUFAS) has called off a planned strike by its members at Golden Arrow Bus Services. The union made the urgent call on Wednesday, following a temporary interdict granted by the Labour Court, preventing its members from embarking on the strike until the court determines an application for leave to appeal.
NUFAS says it communicated the decision to workers through its social media platforms, urging them to return to work. This comes after Golden Arrow urgently approached the courts to challenge the planned strike action, which was scheduled to take place on Thursday.
NUFAS Deputy General Secretary Vuyo Lufele says that, as a union that respects the law and the rule of law, they have always advised their members that Golden Arrow management would do everything possible to prevent the strike, while continuing to deviate from the Standard Practice on Drive-Cam Procedure, version 2014/01.
“The company is exercising its constitutional right in this constitutional democracy. Our members are extremely frustrated by Golden Arrow’s unilateral behaviour but are prepared to exercise maximum patience in order to ensure that, when they go on strike, they are protected. They are highly mobilised and ready for action at any given time. In fact, more workers are joining NUFAS at Golden Arrow in order to be able to participate in a protected strike after Golden Arrow has exhausted all legal avenues provided for in law,” said Lufele.
Lufele added that the union’s legal department is working flat out to oppose the company’s application for leave to appeal the judgment and will also oppose any petition to the Labour Appeal Court in defence of its members’ right to strike.
“We will dislodge this company’s mentality of having a right to deviate from the Standard Practice on Drive-Cam Procedure because it creates uncertainty for our members. As a responsible union, we have engaged the taxi industry’s biggest associations, the Cape Organisation for Democratic Taxi Association (CODETA) and the Cape Amalgamated Taxi Association (CATA), to increase their loading capacity to ensure that no commuter is left unattended,” Lufele said.
He said the union would continue engaging with other taxi associations.
“We are doing this because the strike will only be at Golden Arrow. We have members in many other companies who are using Golden Arrow, and they must still go to work even while our members at Golden Arrow are on strike. Therefore, there is no need for commuters and the general public to panic. NUFAS remains open to any engagement with the employer to find a long-lasting solution to the current impasse.”
Golden Arrow Bus Services (GABS) has informed its passengers that Golden Arrow services are getting underway as normal this morning, with operations running as scheduled thus far.
“Our teams are monitoring the situation closely and will continue to assess operations throughout the morning. We will keep passengers informed should there be any changes to services,” reads the statement.
Photo: NUFAS/FB
