The impact varied from mail operations to delivery, transit and office operations.<\/p>\n
“Mail operations have been severely affected with more than 90 percent of workers not reporting for duty.” chief operating officer John Wentzel said.<\/p>\n
He said this resulted in street and postbox delivery delays in all nine provinces.<\/p>\n
“Mail collection has also been severely disrupted and items in transit since August 19 will be delayed.”<\/p>\n
In the post office itself, roughly 20 percent of staff had not reported for work and 182 out of 2400 outlets had failed to open on Thursday.<\/p>\n
He said all SAPO’s services remained available but there would be delays due to skeleton staff.<\/p>\n
The operations of Postbank remained unaffected.<\/p>\n
“Overall, we estimate that 54 percent of bargaining unit staff nationwide have heeded the call to strike.”<\/p>\n
Wentzel noted that the impact was greatest in the Gauteng province and northern region as compared to the central and coastal regions.<\/p>\n
About 9000 of 14,000 workers, undeterred by snow and gusty winds, had picketed at retail outlets, mail vendors, post offices and mail depots since early Thursday morning.<\/p>\n
“Our members are determined as hell, nothing will stop them from this industrial action not even weather conditions like snow or rain,” Communication Workers’ Union (CWU) general secretary Gallant Roberts said, as South Africa experienced bitterly cold weather conditions.<\/p>\n
The disgruntled workers were demanding an end to the “apartheid wage gap” within the post office, saying black workers were earning the lowest salaries.<\/p>\n
“It is now more than ten years that we as workers in South Africa have been enjoying the least of the rewards of our hard-fought-for democracy, a matter that CWU is not prepared to tolerate any longer.”<\/p>\n
Under the eye of the Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration, Wentzel said SAPO and CWU had met on Thursday to attempt resolving the dispute.<\/p>\n
The wage gap issue had been under discussion with the union since 2002 and related to salary differentials within the various salary bands.<\/p>\n
“The situation has its roots in history and there are a number of causes for the salary differentials,” explained Wentzel.<\/p>\n
He said it would be “simplistic” to look at the issue as one of race.<\/p>\n
The post office hoped for a speedy resolution soon and asked that customers bear with them.<\/p>\n
“We hope that our customers and their counterparts understand the situation that we currently face. We are doing everything we can to provide services however, there will be disruptions.”<\/p>\n
Wentzel said the industrial action started peacefully and no incidents of violence had been reported anywhere in the country. “We hope it stays that way.”<\/p>\n
Roberts agreed, saying workers would “as always remain disciplined”.<\/p>\n