The Road Freight and Logistics Industry Bargaining Council (NBCRFLI) parties have agreed to extend the main collective agreement for another year, starting from March 1, 2024, until February 28, 2025.

The parties involved are the Road Freight Association, the National Employers’ Association of South Africa, the South African Transport and Allied Workers’ Union and the Motor Transport Workers’ Union of South Africa.

This extension means that workers in the industry will receive a fair pay increase. Their wages will go up by 7% across the board, which will apply to everyone across the different levels, including employees in a special group called Extended Bargaining Unit (EBU) up to Paterson Grade B4. Employees in the EBU at Paterson Grade C1, however, will get a 6% increase.

The agreement was approved by Employment and Labour Minister Thulas Nxesi on July 28 and also covers employers and employees who are not part of the groups that directly agreed.

In terms of additional payments, there will also be increases in various allowances:

The consolidated allowance, which was previously R111.35, will be raised to R119.14.

For night shifts, the allowance will increase from R15.43 to R16.51 after one hour of work, and for every extra hour beyond that, it will increase from R2.78 to R2.97.

The subsistence allowance is set to go up from R200.73 to R214.78.

Likewise, the cross-border allowance will experience an upward adjustment from R401 to R429.41.

Further, a 7% increase will be applied to the dangerous goods allowance.

“We are happy with the extension of the agreement, which will ensure continued stability in the industry and will afford industry stakeholders to focus on other pertinent issues affecting the industry,” NBCRFLI national secretary Musa Ndlovu says.

Among other issues threatening the sustainability of the road freight and logistics industry is the ongoing trend of violent trucks attacks, criminal acts disguised as condemnation of employment of foreign nationals.

“As a council, we believe no amount of discontent can justify destruction, violence and/or acts of criminality, worse if it disrupts economic activity, damages business property and compromises the safety of workers and threatens their livelihoods,” Ndlovu says.