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South Africa's freight and rail operator Transnet on Thursday said workers had started an open-ended strike across its operations due to a wage dispute with two major unions, in a move that could hurt key exports, including minerals.
The strike would paralyse freight rail services and impact ports in Africa's most advanced economy.
The state-owned transport and logistics utility has been operating below capacity due to a shortage of locomotives, poor maintenance and vandalism and theft of its infrastructure, costing miners billions of rand in potential revenue.
The United National Transport Union (UNTU) and the SA Transport and Allied Workers Union (Satawu), which represent most Transnet workers, turned down Transnet's offer of a wage increase of 3-4%, saying it was below South Africa's annual inflation rate, which was 7.6% in August.
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Transnet said the strike was illegal, saying unions had not followed the rules set down in the labour law. UNTU and Satawu said Transnet's lawyers had written to them on October 3 saying their industrial action would be illegal as some workers involved provided essential services and were restricted from striking.
Transnet also questioned the unions' balloting processes, through which members approved strike action. It also said no picketing rules had been agreed on by the company and striking workers, as required by the labour law, the unions said.
UNTU and Satawu rejected Transnet's charges, saying they had given the required 48-hour strike notice and engaged with Transnet on picketing rules.
Transnet did not respond to a request for comment.
UNTU, which says is the biggest union at Transnet, confirmed its members began a strike on Thursday morning, while Satawu has said it will join in the strike from Monday.
In a statement, Transnet said:
UNTU's general secretary, Cobus van Vuuren, accused Transnet of seeking to intimidate workers by declaring the strike illegal.
He said:
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All parties have agreed to mediation by the Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration, a state agency. The unions said further talks, due to start on October 12, would not affect strike plans.
