Post Office union threatens fresh strike

The Communication Workers Union (CWU) has threatened to embark on fresh strike action at the embattled South African Post Office (Sapo) from next week.

The union told EWN they will down tools on Thursday and Friday‚ before they embark on an indefinite strike over salary increases.

Workers claim they have not received a salary increase in the last two years.

Post Office CEO Mark Barnes was quoted as saying another strike would have a devastating impact on its services.

“I hope we can find a way to talk to each other as partners and that we don’t have to go down this route. I find this to be a blunt tool of discussion. We should have common interests as management and union leadership.”

Earlier this month‚ Parliament heard that the Post Office could only survive if it was given a major cash injection.

Sapo received a grilling by parliament’s standing committee on public accounts when it admitted management systems had collapsed resulting in mismanagement‚ late annual reports and dire financial straits.

The 2014-15 annual report - which reflected more than R1-billion in losses - raised the possibility that the Post Office‚ which was hit by four strikes in that year‚ could no longer function as a going concern.

Barnes‚ who was appointed to save Sapo's business‚ warned similar losses were expected in the 2015-16 financial year.

Minister of Telecommunications and Postal Services Siyabonga Cwele said the “financial crisis” had not started two years ago‚ but was a result of systemic mismanagement over a long period of time.

Board chair Simo Lushaba said the organisation had been through three CEOs‚ four CFOs‚ three chief operating officers and three board chairs between 2012 and 2015.