In our Tuesday roundup, see summaries
of our selection of South African labour-
related stories that have appeared since
midday on Monday, 15 May 2017.
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Ex-mines minister claims Molefe and Ngubane helped Guptas grab Optimum mine IOL News reports that former mineral resources minister Ngoako Ramatlhodi on Tuesday made explosive allegations against the Eskom CEO Brian Molefe and board chairperson Dr Ben Ngubane. According to a report by amaBhungane, Ramatlhodi accused the two of attempting to pressurise him to blackmail Glencore in an attempt to help the Gupta family buy the company's Optimum colliery, which supplied Eskom’s Hendrina power station. At the time, Optimum was reportedly under business administration after Molefe refused to renegotiate the price of a long-term coal contract and reinstated a R2.17 billion penalty on Optimum for allegedly supplying "substandard coal". According to the ex-minister, Molefe and Ngubane demanded that he should suspend all Glencore’s mining licences in SA, pending the payment of the penalty. Ramatlhodi refused because “suspending all of Glencore’s licences would have brought Glencore’s 14 coal operations to a standstill and risked the jobs of its 35,000 employees in South Africa.” Glencore was ultimately only too happy to get out of its punitive deal with Eskom, and Optimum was eventually snapped up by the Guptas. Read this report by Khanyisile Ngcobo in full at IOL News. See too, Brian Molefe helped the Guptas ‘hijack a mine’, says Ramatlhodi, at BusinessLive. And also, Ramatlhodi spills beans on how Molefe 'helped' Guptas, at Fin24 Phalaborwa mine suspends operations amid strike intimidation claims The New Age reported on Monday that the wage strike at copper producer Palabora Mining Company entered its thirteenth day on Sunday, leaving operations at a virtual standstill. Company spokesperson Lydia Radebe said that even though the strike was protected and the Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union (Amcu) had agreed to peaceful action, the company had in the past week noted a significant increase in acts if intimidation of non-striking workers and contractors exiting and entering the mine premises. To protect non-striking employees, the management has advised them to stay at home until further notice. The striking workers denied acts of intimidation. Amcu members downed tools on 3 May demanding, among other items, a 12% wage hike for 2017, 11% for 2018 and 10% for 2019, as well as housing and other work-related benefits. This was after talks with unions, including the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM), deadlocked when the employer offered 8% for 2017 and 7% for 2018 and 2019. The NUM is not involved in the strike. Read this report by Montsho Matlala in full on page 23 of The New Age of 15 May 2017 Free State cops retrieve bodies of 11 suspected illegal miners after mine blast EWN reports that Free State police have retrieved 11 bodies from the Eland gold mine shaft in Welkom following an explosion on Thursday. The cause of the explosion is not yet known, but investigators are probing whether the unidentified bodies are those of illegal miners. On Monday, police removed the bodies from a section of the shaft which is no longer operational. The police's Thandi Mbambo indicated: “For now we have registered a case for further investigation. Other bodies were found with name tags which indicate who the people were. This makes it easier for families to identify them.” This short report by Mia Lindeque is at EWN Lonmin to relocate its head office to Marikana to cut costs Business Report writes that troubled platinum producer Lonmin announced on Monday that it was relocating its head office to Marikana to cut costs. This came as it warned of a possible breach of its covenant to credit facilities, amid widening operating losses in the half-year to March. The company said: “We are relocating our South African operational headquarters from Johannesburg to Marikana in 2018, to enhance executive management support to operations. This is expected to have the consequential impact of generating further savings." Lonmin, the world’s third largest platinum producer which was the scene of the Marikana massacre in mid-August 2012, has been rocked by a week-long community protest for jobs and housing. Read this report by Dineo Faku in full at Business Report Job creation by service providers still being assessed, says Lonmin EWN reports that platinum producer Lonmin Mine says it is still assessing job creation proposals by its service providers and will update the Bapong community on the outcome this week. The company indicated that, while it could not afford to hire any of the unemployed Bapong residents, its service providers could assist by employing some of the locals in the North West mining area. A group calling themselves the “Unemployed Youth of Bapo Ba Mogale” embarked on a two-week protest, demanding that Lonmin should create at least one thousand permanent jobs. They barricaded roads and stoned passing cars during the protests. Lonmin's Wendy Tlou said they were hoping to reopen their closed shafts on Tuesday. A short report by Masego Rahlaga is at EWN Billiton name to disappear from BHP AFP reports that BHP Billiton has announced it will drop the name "Billiton" in a rebranding exercise to build its standing as a major Australian company rather than a multinational. The Australian roots of the world’s biggest miner stretch back to 1885. It became BHP Billiton in a merger with the South African company that bore that name in 2001. Chief external affairs officer Geoff Healy said a new "think big" advertising campaign was designed to demonstrate the important role BHP played in the Australian economy. BHP would also change its logo, he indicated. Read this report in full at BusinessLive Other general internet posting(s) on mining
Prasa’s offer to increase salaries by 8% makes a strike unlikely BusinessLive reports that the Passenger Rail Authority of SA (Prasa) said on Monday that plans to slash staff costs by R579m this financial year would not deter it from raising pay 8%. Prasa has also promised workers there will be no forced retrenchments. A strike now seems unlikely. The SA Transport and Allied Workers’ Union (Satawu) say most of its members favour an 8% increase. Satawu spokeswoman Zanele Sabela indicated on Monday that six of the union’s nine regions had accepted the offer, while a few outstanding matters still needed to be finalised with management this week. Prasa’s 8% offer to its 17,000 employees in a one-year deal has raised union expectations that the agency will offer voluntary severance packages and take other steps to keep a lid on employee costs. The United National Transport Union (Untu) said it expected to finalise its position by Tuesday. Untu deputy general secretary Eddie de Klerk said it was still unclear how Prasa would cut costs, but the moratorium on retrenchments was tremendously important to them. Read this report by Karl Gernetzky in full at BusinessLive Other internet posting(s) in this news category
SAA lost over nearly R31m due to one-day strike action by cabin crew Fin24 reports that South African Airways (SAA) lost altogether R31,781,701 when members of the SA Cabin Crew Association (Sacca) went on strike on 26 April. This was revealed by the Finance Minister Malusi Gigaba in reply to a parliamentary question. He did not elaborate further on the matter. On 3 May, the Labour Court granted SAA a final order against Sacca and its members. This was after the court had granted an interim order in favour of the airline on the same day as the strike. The order interdicted Sacca and its members from embarking on industrial action and declared the industrial action an unprotected strike. Meanwhile, the national carrier's net loss for the 2017/19 financial year is projected to be R853m, which will be significantly less than had been initially projected. Read this report in full at Fin24 Another possible strike by cabin crew looming at SAA EWN reports that that the South African Cabin Crew Association (Sacca) is applying for a strike notice with the Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration (CCMA) after the latest talks with South African Airways (SAA) stalled. Last month, the association approached the Labour Court in a bid to overturn an interdict preventing it from continuing with a previous strike, but the court upheld the original order. Fifty local and international flights were cancelled when cabin crew staff went on strike on 26 April over international meal allowances. The union's deputy chairperson Christopher Shabangu now says they hope to receive feedback from the CCMA by the end of the week. SAA has not yet been reached for comment by the time this report was published. This short report by Mia Lindeque is at EWN Other internet posting(s) in this news category
Survey shows almost all working South Africans employees fear losing their jobs Fin24 reports that a survey has revealed that the biggest fear of up to 92% of South African employees is losing their jobs. This is according to the annual International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) Global Poll for 2017, released on Monday ahead of the G20 Labour Ministries meeting to be held in Germany this week. The survey was conducted in March across 16 countries, including the BRICS nations. A total of 1,000 people were interviewed in SA. Other concerns of local workers include climate change (74%), weakening labour laws (74%), cyber-attacks (72%) and inequality between men and women (62%). More than half (54%) of respondents fear technology will take over their jobs. The survey also revealed that 78% of South Africans believe the economic system favours the wealthy. Some 74% want more apprenticeships and opportunities for life-long learning. The report indicated that globally, wages need to be addressed. “Family incomes are in crisis, and with growing despair over wages, working people are struggling,” the report states. Read this report by Lameez Omarjee in full at Fin24 Other internet posting(s) in this news category
Molefe ‘too young for early retirement’ in terms of Eskom retirement fund rules Moneyweb reports that the Democratic Alliance (DA) told the Gauteng High Court in papers filed on Monday that the rules of the Eskom Pension and Provident Fund did not allow for early retirement of Eskom employees who, like Brian Molefe, were younger than 55. The party approached the court to ask for an urgent interdict preventing Molefe from performing any duties or functions as group chief executive of Eskom or receiving any benefits associated with the position. It further asked the court to review and set aside public enterprises minister Lynne Brown’s decision to “reinstate” Molefe as Eskom CEO as it was said to be irrational. Brown on Friday defended her support for a decision by the Eskom board to “reinstate” Molefe almost five months after he left Eskom in November. The DA argued that in fact Molefe resigned in November last year and his resignation was accepted, confirmed and acted upon. Brown could therefore not have “reinstated” him, but should have followed the prescribed procedure if she wanted to appoint him afresh. Read this report by Antoinette Slabbert in full at Moneyweb. See too, DA files urgent court application opposing Molefe's reinstatement at Eskom, at M&G Other internet posting(s) in this news category
Johnson & Johnson to cut 114 employees Daily Dispatch reports that Johnson & Johnson, one of the biggest manufacturers of medical devices, pharmaceutical and consumer products in SA, will be retrenching 114 workers from the end of this month. It emerged on Monday that the East London-based company has resorted to shutting down three production lines – baby shampoo, baby powder and aqueous creams – to stay afloat. The company currently employs 53 permanent workers and approximately 1,200 contractors. The 114 affected workers belong to the Chemical, Energy, Paper, Printing, Wood and Allied Workers’ Union (Ceppwawu). They were employed through labour broking company Manpower. The average length of service among the workers ranges from eight to 12 years and they will apparently be entitled to about three weeks’ pay for each year of service. In an impassioned plea to Manpower and Johnson & Johnson, Ceppwawu’s Mzwandile Mpofu proposed consideration of a number of alternative measures, but these have been turned down as being not viable. A Johnson & Johnson spokeswoman said consultation with workers regarding retrenchment began as early as last year. Read this report by Zwanga Mukhuthu in full in Daily Dispatch of 16 May 2017 Up to 3,000 silicon metal jobs at stake as Nersa drags its feet over tariff application Moneyweb reports that a decision by energy regulator Nersa could come too late to save up to 3,000 jobs of employees and contractors, as high electricity costs have rendered silicon metal production in SA uncompetitive since 2016. At its electricity sub-committee meeting on 3 May, Nersa decided to publish for public comment an application from Eskom to grant eMalahleni-based Silicon Smelters (SS) discounted short-term tariffs. Given the procedures now involved, a decision might realistically only be forthcoming towards the latter part of the year. Nellis Bester, CEO of SS, commented that the company cannot compete against producers on the international market for specifically silicon metal due to electricity costs that are three to five times higher. In some other countries, governments have come to the aid of the industry by lowering electricity costs. Bester added: “We have seen this coming as long as five years ago and made numerous presentations in the last years to Nersa, Eskom and other government institutions.” Eskom has agreed to discounted tariffs, but needs regulatory approval to implement them and so submitted an application to Nersa before December last year. Now the company has been forced to issue a section 189A notice to the unions at its Polokwane smelter in order to engage in a process of negotiations which might lead to retrenchments. Read this comprehensive report by Antoinette Slabbert in full at Moneyweb Other internet posting(s) in this news category
Top Tshwane metro cop in hot water over alleged false qualifications Pretoria News reports that the fate of the Tshwane Metro Police Department’s head of crime prevention, Johanna Estresia “Trish” Armstrong, who allegedly lied about her qualifications during the recruitment process, is in the hands of city manager Moeketsi Mosola. The damning findings are contained in a forensic report compiled after investigation by the city’s Group Audit and Risk Department in 2014. MMC for Community Safety Derrick Kissundooth said the report had been sent to Mosola in light of questions asked regarding whether its recommendations had been implemented or not. It had been recommended that legal action be taken against Armstrong, but insiders at the department said that never happened. The forensic services found that Armstrong used a fraudulent metro police diploma to register with the Department of Transport as a traffic officer in 2009. She also claimed she was a metro police chief in the Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality, which was found to be untrue. Read this report by Rapula Moatshe in full at Pretoria News. See too, Samwu calls for tough action as Masola ‘studies’ fraud report, at The New Age Other internet posting(s) in this news category
See our listing of links to labour articles published on the internet on Monday, 15 May 2017 at SA Labour News
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