South Africa - No end in sight to postal strike

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Johannesburg -

Stacks of trays, containers and pallets filled with post lay unattended outside Joburg’s Witspos mail centre, evidence of the effects of the ongoing postal workers’ strike.

The SA Post Office said Witspos alone was sitting on a seven-day backlog.

There was no end in sight to the strike, with workers threatening to step it up by disrupting services further.

This could worsen things for individuals and businesses dependent on postal services.

Striking workers spent on Monday standing around or holding small meetings around the Witspos hub in Ormonde, southern Joburg, as the strike entered its third week on Monday.

Post Office trucks delivering mail around and outside Gauteng were parked alongside trailers with no activity around them or the loading bays.

Striking workers, who spoke to The Star on condition of anonymity, said the Post Office was trying to cut the backlog by getting trucks to move mail out of the hub to a secret location, where it would be sorted and delivered to the various depots.

They said mail processing was a lot of work and the backlog would get worse.

Post Office employees said they did not want their names published as they were not organised under a union.

“We felt that the unions have sold us out and decided to contribute funds as individuals to tackle the Post Office in court.

The Post Office was ordered by the court a long time ago to adjust our salaries, but that has not happened more than two years later,” one worker said.

The Post Office said on Monday it was committed to resolving the illegal work stoppage at Witspos and the Tshwane mail-sorting centres.