Labour union SAMWU says its members at Johannesburg’s Metrobus are happy that some of their grievances will be addressed.
The union addressed its members earlier on Friday after bus drivers grounded operations, leaving thousands of Metrobus commuters stranded.
However, buses resumed operations on Friday morning, after Thursday night’s meeting between SAMWU and Metrobus management.
Metrobus spokesperson Tshepo Nathan says they are happy that the workers have agreed to go back to work.
“We appreciate the spirit with which the union has engaged with us during this engagement session. Although we are continuing to have engagements with labour, it is to be appreciated that our employees have indeed agreed to resume services.”
Municipal workers union SAMWU is adamant that there won’t be further work stoppages. SAMWU Regional Chairperson Lebogang Ndawo says the negotiations have been fruitful.
“They are happy that the shifts that were imposed on them now they are going to be removed so they are going to revert back to the shift up until a proper task team that was mandated to deal with that part concludes the work. They are happy that they are going to be paid. Even though the S and T that they are supposed to be paid when there are hired events was delayed a bit. They have said can it be done a bit quicker. But they are at least willing to understand and resume with their work.”
Ndawo is however calling on Metrobus to speed up the procurement of a new fleet of buses. He says majority of the current fleet is old and experience mechanical faults from time to time. On Friday morning, although some buses were ferrying people, there seemed to be confusion among commuters regarding certain routes.
UJ student, Patricia Muwirizwa, who resides in Foresthill in the south of Johannesburg, was unsure if her bus to Auckland Park will come.
“I use 1849 to go home and I use this one that goes to UJ. I’m going to school for registration, there’s no one here. I’m going to wait for a bus until it comes or go for a taxi but it is too far.”
Metrobus is adamant that all routes would have normalised in the afternoon.
VIDEO | Johannesburg commuters breathe sigh of relief as Metrobus resumes services:
