Pretoria - Municipal workers belonging to the South African Municipal Workers Union (Samwu) in Johannesburg have downed tools in solidarity with striking Metrobus drivers.
Last Thursday, Samwu in Gauteng requested Johannesburg Mayor Amos Masondo to intervene in the ongoing Metrobus driver's strike and threatened that should he fail to do so within two days their members within the city would withdraw their labour.
On Monday, Johannesburg Samwu branch secretary, Dumisani Langa, said: "The strike is on because no one tried to show willingness to intervene, be it the Mayor or the City Manager [Mavela Dlamini]. As Samwu, we are disappointed that no one seems to be interested in making sure that the service is restored at Metrobus and as such, we will continue to withdraw our services until the end of this week."
He said should there be no intervention by Friday, a secondary strike would follow by all municipal-owned entities.
Langa said this was not the first time the city's leadership had failed to provide visionary leadership when there was a strike at Metrobus.
Metrobus drivers belonging to Samwu embarked on strike a week ago protesting against a new shift schedule. Negotiations between the striking bus drivers and the Metrobus management reached a deadlock last Tuesday.
All buses have been withdrawn following threats and some form of violence against non-striking bus drivers - leaving thousands of commuters stranded.
On Thursday, the Labour Court ruled that the ongoing strike by Metrobus drivers was legal. Metrobus is considering appealing the court's decision.
