Steve Harris, general secretary of the United National Transport Union (UNTU), is full of confidence that the CCMA will rule in the union’s favour. This means that the CCMA might issue UNTU with a certificate that the ongoing dispute between the parties cannot be resolved.
According to a collective agreement between UNTU and Bombela, the union needs this certificate before giving the employer 48 hours written notice of its intention to go on a strike after obtaining a mandate from its members.
UNTU earlier declared a dispute against Bombela’s attempts to unilaterally short-change its hard working and hyper efficient employees. The company started salary negotiations with an offer to pay a 3% salary increase when UNTU demanded 15%. The gap has narrowed to a 9% vs 7,6% divide when negotiations deadlocked.
