The crippling strike at the Post Office’s Johannesburg and Pretoria sorting centres hasn’t been called off officially but employees are returning to work. The backlog in undelivered mail is expected to take up to four weeks to process.
The strike began on 14 February and was declared illegal five days later.
On Tuesday, staff reported for work at both the Witspos and Tshwane Mail sorting centres. This follows a gradual improvement in staff attendance in the past week, a Post Office spokesman says.
The two sorting centres are the only ones affected and local mail in other provinces has not been affected by the strike action.
Because the strike was deemed illegal, the “no-work, no-pay” principle applies to striking workers, the spokesman says.
Mail sorting staff and volunteers from the Post Office’s administrative section sorted large quantities of mail last weekend. This mail is now being sub-sorted for delivery on Tuesday and Wednesday. — (c) 2013 NewsCentral Media
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