UTATU United Transport and Allied Trade Union

The union is registered at the Department of Labour as a trade union in accordance with the Labour Relations Act 66 of 1995 as amended in 2002. All negotiations and agreements concerning service conditions and salaries are undertaken at the Transnet Bargaining Council.

• Legal assistance:
  Members who, during the execution of their duties, are criminally charged receive legal assistance at the discretion of the Management Committee. The union uses the services of the best advocates and attorneys.
• Disciplinary assistance:
  Members who are disciplinary charged/dismissed while on duty receive assistance from trained and experienced representatives at the union's expense, at the discretion of the Management Committee.

Death gratuity

UTATU members are insured for amounts of between R1 000 to R10 000 (depending on years of membership). On the death of a member, this money is immediately paid to his/her designated nominee, spouse or estate.

• Discretionary Fund benefits:
  UTATU's Discretionary Fund, whose present value stands at R3 900, is a unique member benefit. Its value is periodically increased at the discretion of the union's Executive Committee. The benefit is payable to members only on statutory retirement or medical board (Transnet Pension Fund).
• NB: to qualify for a DF benefit, a member must have had five years continuous union membership with UTATU. Should a member resign and rejoin, his/her benefit is penalised by 25%.

Preferential short-term insurance scheme

UTATU members receive preferential treatment and substantive lower premiums on short-term insurance at Prestasi Brokers.

Group scheme insurance

Expert advice on Group Scheme Insurance specially designed for members by Old Mutual (Group Schemes), Sanlam and Rentmeester.

Labour Report

To keep them abreast of UTATU activities and development within Transnet, the union's newspaper, Labour Report, is supplied to members every second month.

Workman's compensation and unemployment fund

The union advises qualifying members on how to claim benefits from these funds.

Professional service

The union has many branches/trade union representative committees across the country where meetings are regularly held and that might be attended by members. During meetings, members can enquire on any matter and be sure of receiving a quick and professional response.

Voetplaat Park

UTATU members are entitled to a 30% discount at Voetplaat Park, the union's own resort on the Natal South Coast. The resort offers attractive accommodation in its chalets, cabanas and luxury caravan stands throughout the year.

Education Bursaries

UTATU has two Education Bursary Schemes available to children of paid up members, and are as follows.

1. Universities
UTATU has agreements with the listed Universities with a monetary value of   R3000-oo per year where members children can directly obtain application forms from the Bursaries office of the following Universities Pretoria, Port Elizabeth, Free State Stellenbosch, Johannesburg, KZN and Potchefstroom which they complete and forward to UTATU Head Office to confirm the membership of the member or the member can obtain the Application form directly from UTATU’s Head Office.  The Bursaries are allocated on merit by the University on a yearly basis.

2. Financial Bursaries
UTATU has 5 Bursaries of R2000 that are allocated to children of members.  The application forms are obtained from UTATU’s Head office its further advertised in the Labour Report during July and September.  The closing date for this application is 15 November of each year.  UTATU appoints a committee out of the Executive Council that allocates the bursaries on merit on a yearly basis.

The application forms for both mentioned bursaries can be obtained from
Me. N Zacharias – Sahib on 011 728 0120.

Membership Fees

A monthly contribution for membership of the union is 0,9% of a member's basic salary and recovered from his salary by debit order (minimum of R35 per month and maximum of R55 per month).

Canvassing

• A canvassing fee of R50 is paid for every new member enrolled. An additional R25 bonus is paid for every ten new members enrolled.
• Application forms for membership are freely available from the branch secretaries, trade union representatives, head office and in Labour Report.
• Remember: an employee in Transnet may belong to any recognised union within Transnet and will be able to enjoy stop order facilities.

Any further enquiries regarding the benefits can be obtained from UTATU's head office on 011-728-0120/29.