SA Post Office Workers Fight for Unpaid Salary Deductions

• Post office workers were not pleased with the agreement that resulted in the halting of about 6,000 jobs
• Protesting employees compiled their grievances and marched to the Communications Department in Pretoria to hand them over
• SAPO staff also questioned the decision to utilise the Temporary Employment Relief Scheme (Ters) to subsidise a portion of their salaries for the next 12 months.

Zingisa Chirwa is an experienced Briefly News journalist based in Johannesburg, South Africa, who has covered current affairs on the radio for over 15 years.

The South African Post office workers are still unhappy despite an agreement being reached to pause the retrenchment of over 6,000 workers.

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On 29 April 2024, the employees marched to the Communications and Digital Technologies Department in Pretoria to share their grievances with Minister Mondli Gungubele.

The workers’ spokesperson, Tutu Mokoena, told the Citizen that from 2020, deductions were made from their salaries for UIF and medical aid; however, the monies were never deposited into the relevant accounts.

The SAPO employees were also confused by the decision to use the UIF’s Temporary Employment Relief Scheme (Ters) to subsidise a portion of their salaries for the next 12 months. Mokoena further revealed that the unions were not mandated to negotiate on behalf of the workers.

According to SA People, about 4,700 retrenchment letters were dispatched to SAPO employees.

Cosatu urges the government to save SAPO

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Briefly News reported that Cosatu called on the government to rescue the SAPO from a looming crisis.

The trade union federation's planned march to the National Treasury offices in Pretoria on 5 April 2024 did not draw a massive crowd.

COSATU, however, said other engagements were unfolding to stop the retrenchments.

Source: Briefly News