BusinessLive reports that the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) and construction company Aveng are at loggerheads over claims of "mass" retrenchments by an Aveng subsidiary.  

According to the NUM, it has received a section 189 (possible retrenchment) notice from Aveng Grinaker-LTA to retrench 2,863 workers and said it was "worried and saddened” that the company was likely to retrench such a huge number of workers at a time of high unemployment.  It called on Aveng Grinaker-LTA to rethink its position to retrench.  But an Aveng Grinaker-LTA representative responded:  "The 2,863 number quoted in the NUM statement is the total headcount of wage-earning employees in Aveng Grinaker-LTA, not the number of employees affected by the retrenchment process."  The group confirmed that it was engaging with representative unions on retrenching 120 permanent jobs in Aveng Grinaker-LTA Building.  The engagement has apparently been going on since October 2017 in a process facilitated by the Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration.

• Read this report by Mark Allix in full at BusinessLive

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