Post Office workers affiliated to the King William’s Town branch of the Communication Workers Union (CWU) have been picketing outside the King William’s Town Post Office since Thursday last week.
A group of about 30 workers staged a peaceful placard protest highlighting their grievances at the beginning of the week.
Picture: DESMOND COETZEE
CWU branch shop steward, Siyathanda Xotyeni, has been working for the Post Office as a teller for the past seven years.
“We support and are in solidarity with the national strike which started on July 3 but have only started with our protest action last week as we have had enough of the terrible conditions we are working under,” Xotyeni said.
Some of their complaints include: lack of a wage increase since 2015, poor infrastructure which puts the workers in danger, an unfair increase in workload and a ‘lack of co-operation’ from the Post Office CEO, Mark Barnes.
Xotyeni said that management was aware of the terrible conditions they had to work under, but have been unwilling to properly address them.
“Some of our computers are not working and we have to work with umbrellas on days when it is raining, but they [management] want us to still deliver an effective duty and performance to the public,” Xotyeni said.
“This is day three of our protest and we will not stop if our demands are not met.”
All attempts to get comment from Barnes failed as his mobile was on voicemail.
