METRORAIL FARE INCREASE – COSATU THREAT
Posted on 26 March 2010
In terms of fare adjustments planned for 1 April – the first in seven years – some “Metroplus” (former first class) commuters are to pay nearly R100 more for a monthly ticket. The operator says rising running costs and a decrease in government subsidy make the adjustments unavoidable. The South African Congress of Trade Unions (Cosatu) has slammed the proposed move, threatening national strike action which it says will “bring the economy to a standstill” unless the increase is cancelled. Cosatu Western Cape provincial secretary Tony Ehrenreich told the Cape Argus that the Labour Relations Act gives unions the right to strike around socio-economic issues and “public transport is a key area that workers are interested in.”
According to the paper, “the union said it opposed the increases for a number of reasons, including the reduction in Metrorail service levels, overcrowding on trains and because the increases should have been introduced gradually, rather than in a large lump sum. The increases have been calculated by distance and Cosatu said this meant the greatest impact would be on the poor.”
Ehrenreich was quoted saying: “The way they calculate the cost of a ride seeks to hold poor people responsible for having been housed far from the areas of work, so they are charged more for the length of a ride. The increases are way in excess of the inflation rate and will have a greater impact on poorer communities. The increases, the union added, would ‘compound the desperation’ already caused by the rising price of energy and other forms of transport.”
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