South Africa strike wobbles, carriers charge extra for backlog

SHIPPING lines are charging South African fruit exporters extra to handle containers as sluggish work begins on clearing the backlog from the still lingering national transport strike that partially continued into a third week, reports Bloomberg

Reuters reported that ports and railways were almost at a standstill with metals, cars, fruit and wine exports fuel supplies held up in Africa's biggest economy upon which neighbouring countries depend for food and fuel.

One big union remains on strike and is calling on other unions for sympathy walkouts with a court forbidding a strike by power station workers, which rendered the situation volatile and uncertain.

While freight rail services were resuming with one union's return to work, the employer, the state-run logistics giant Transnet, said operations at the country's ports were hardest hit with both imports and exports worth millions backing up, reported television Eyewitness News.

The United Transport and Allied Trade Union (UTATU), representing 49 per cent of Transnet workers, has accepted the 11 per cent pay increase. But workers in the South African Transport and Allied Workers Union (SATAWU), representing 39 per cent of the workforce, are holding out for 13 per cent.

With SATAWU still out, and calling for sympathy strikes from electric power workers, organised truckers and aviation workers, there are fears that strike may still spread.

The courts issued an injunction preventing the National Union of Mineworkers, which represent 16,000 workers at the electricity supply board, better know as Eskom (Elektrisiteitsvoorsieningskommissie), that ended its plans for a march on Eskom's head office in Johannesburg.

Also hard hit were exports of white maize (corn), used as cattle feed, which dropped sharply last week. Maize exports from the continent's biggest producer fell to 8,941 tons from 38,606 in the previous week, said the South African Grain Information Service.

Citrus Growers' Association chief Justin Chadwick said citrus fruit exporters face a carrier surcharge of US$150 per container, adding to the ZAR250 million (US$25 million) they have already lost because of the strike.

"Talk about kicking someone when they're down," Mr Chadwick told Bloomberg, adding that the shippers will refuse to pay.

The strike has cost South Africa billions, said the South African Chamber of Commerce and Industry. Exxaro Resources, ArcelorMittal South Africa, Xstrata Plc, Samancor Ltd and Ruukki Group have declared force majeure, enabling them to miss contracted metal deliveries.

Agriculture Minister Tina Joemat-Pettersson is considering declaring the strike a national disaster, a term usually applied to extreme weather and natural disasters, reported London's Containerisation International.

The Business Unity South Africa (BUSA) organisation has urged government to intervene, reports television Eyewitnews News. "As costs mount it may well become necessary to ask the government for decisive intervention to see whether we can resolve this issue," said BUSA deputy chief executive Raymond Parsons.

(Source: www.schednet.com )