Cash guards to strike over heists
Cash-in-transit security guards will embark on nationwide protests on June 11 to demand that concrete measures be taken to deal with the increasing number of heists.
The Federation of Unions of SA (Fedusa) and its affiliate unions said they would join the protest action.
Fedusa general secretary Dennis George said because ATMs must be loaded daily‚ a one-day strike would create a significant scarcity of money.
A two-day strike would cause large sums of cash piling up with retailers and a threeday strike would cause an economic crisis.
Fedusa said the salaries of security officers‚ which average about R11 000 a month‚ should be increased to R20 000 because of the high risks associated with the job. George said the heist pandemic was totally understated. There were 180 attacks in 2014 but that increased to 370 last year.
“The main reason for the extreme increase could be attributed to the fact that cash-in-transit vehicles are seen as soft and easy targets due to under-investment in strong security measures‚” George said.
Fedusa welcomed the call by the Motor Transport Workers Union for an urgent meeting with the management of major transit companies next week.
MTWU is the majority trade union in the industry.
Fedusa and MTWU leadership had identified weaknesses, including weak and outdated vehicle designs‚ too few officers in the cash vehicles‚ weak firepower and outdated equipment‚ lack of training‚ low morale and safety precautions.
