A quiet storm is brewing between Transnet's Port Terminals (TPT) and its labour unions over the privatisation process of the Durban Container Terminal (DCT) Pier 2 and the Ngqura Container Terminal (NCT), which labour sees as a trojan horse for mass retrenchments.
In a thinly veiled threat of escalating the matter against the Transnet subsidiary, the South African Transport Workers Union (Satawu) said it had so many unanswered questions, such as the future of the workers and what is the participation of the private sector exactly, those are amongst the unanswered important issues that were not discussed at all.
‘’As things stand at this current moment, there was no consensus reached by the two parties. As a result, Satawu and the Management agreed that the legal transition team must be brought back to address these challenges as the management has failed,’’ the union said.
Satawu maintains the process was not ‘Transition’ but privatisation of the entity, which would impact negatively on workers
‘’It is only the minority that will benefit from this,’’ it said.
In a statement in response to enquiries, the TPT confirmed the stalemate on Thursday and said it would continue discussions on the treatment of labour matters as necessitated by the transactions.
‘’Transnet has continued to provide assurances to organised labour that there will be no retrenchments as a result of the planned transactions and that all employees will be retained as Transnet employees. Consultations with organised labour will continue as planned in the next few weeks,’’ it said.
Transnet embarked on a private sector participation driven strategy for which it says two terminals have been identified as a key reform under government’s Operation Vulindlela initiative for raising port efficiencies at the terminals, which are both operating well below their capacities.
Transnet seeks to establish 25-year special purpose vehicles between the winning bidders and Transnet Port Terminals (TPT), which means there will be no sale of assets, with the terminals reverting to TPT once the concession period ends.
Companies shortlisted last year for the transactions include APM Terminals AMI Management DMCEST, China Harbour Engineering Company and Guangzhou Port Company, COSCO Shipping Ports Limited, DP World Limited, Global Ports Services, Grindrod Freight Services and Hamburger Hafen Und Logistik Aktiengesellschaft, International Container Terminal Services, Red Sea Gateway Terminal and MMC Port Holdings and Star Classic Investments Limited amongst others.
Satawu said the meeting it had with the TPT was a a lengthy and difficult meeting with the management of Transnet.
It said it had raised serious concerns and unprofessionalism regarding how the management dealt with this ‘transition’ and how the labour is left behind. Satawu holds a strong view that we are far from any fruitful results in this regard, and we are determined to fight until the end.
‘’The union wishes to state that it refused to agree and to take critical decisions as the management failed to answer questions tabled by the union,’’ it said.
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