This news aggregator site highlights South African labour news from a wide range of internet and print sources. Each posting has a synopsis of the source article, together with a link or reference to the original. Postings cover the range of labour related matters from industrial relations to generalist human resources.
In our afternoon roundup, see summaries
of our selection of South African labour-
related stories that appeared thus far on
Tuesday, 28 August 2018.
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Solidarity gives notice of strike at Sasol over black staff share ownership scheme Reuters reports that Solidarity has given Sasol a 48-hour notice to strike over the petrochemical giant’s plan to launch a share ownership scheme exclusively for black staff, the trade union said on Tuesday. This followed after 95% of the union’s Sasol members in Sasolburg voted to go on strike after 83% of its members at Sasol in Secunda also voted in favour of a strike. Sasol plans to sell 25% of its local operations to mainly qualifying black employees in a R21 billion deal that would be vendor-financed by the company. Sasol has previously defended the scheme, saying it was not a company benefit but one that was specifically designed to address Sasol’s ownership component under SA’s black economic empowerment rules. Solidarity Chief Executive Dirk Hermann said with the delivery of the strike notice: “Our members at Sasol unanimously said: Enough is enough. This type of crude racial exclusion cannot be tolerated any longer. These white workers are also valuable.” The union pointed out that the strike notice did not necessarily mean that it would hold the industrial action after 48 hours. Read this report by Tiisetso Motsoeneng in full at Moneyweb. Read Solidarity’s press statement at SA Labour News Other internet posting(s) in this news category
Health hazard as Pikitup pulls out of Soweto due to attacks on its workers The Star reports that a health hazard is looming in Soweto after Pikitup stopped its refuse-collection services in protest against the growing number of attacks on its workers in the township. This could see up to 2.5 tons of rotting refuse a week piling up in some suburbs of Soweto and has sparked fears not only of a health hazard, but of rat infestations and fires. The Star report identifies the affected suburbs. Collection of refuse has been disrupted across the city over the past few months, following the termination by the DA-led administration last year of the previous Jozi@Work project, initiated by the former ANC-led administration as a job-creation project that saw workers employed on three-monthly contracts. After meetings with the unions in April, the City hired 1,400 of the total 3,000 former employees on a permanent basis, with their salaries increasing from R2,200 to R6,000 per month. The protesters are the workers who were not given jobs. The situation is so bad that Joburg metro police department (JMPD) officers have to accompany refuse removal trucks to some suburbs. Over the past few days, the protesters have not only been picketing outside Pikitup’s depots, but also stoning and burning the utility’s trucks. Pikitup MD Lungile Dhlamini advised the managers at the affected depots on Monday that it would be irresponsible to allow their staff members to work under such conditions, as their safety could not be guaranteed until a political solution was found. Read this report by Anna Cox in full at The Star Other internet posting(s) in this news category
Short strike at Chris Hani Baragwanath Hospital ends BusinessLive reports that the Gauteng Department of Health (DoH) announced that a strike by general workers at the Chris Hani Baragwanath Hospital in Soweto was over. The end of the strike came after some of the workers’ demands were met. DoH spokesperson Lesemang Matuka said on Tuesday that normal service had been resumed at the hospital after "diversions were lifted yesterday". Six unions downed tools on Monday over what they said was "rife corruption which has crippled healthcare service at the hospital". The striking workers protested outside the hospital. Matuka indicated: "The hospital acting CEO, Dr Sifiso Maseko, is still on special leave and the department is going to appoint someone who will hold the fort. No other staff members will be moved until the investigation is completed. An independent team of investigators will be roped in to investigate all allegations made‚ [and] the unions agreed to assist the process by handing over the evidence they have including possible sworn affidavits." Among the unions’ demands was that Maseko should step down‚ corrupt officials should be removed and vacant posts should be filled. Read this report by Naledi Shange in full at BusinessLive Eskom official blames load shedding on 'worst industrial action in his 28 years' Fin24 reports that top Eskom executives told MPs in Parliament on Tuesday that the worst industrial action in 28 years directly contributed to the power utility having to implement load shedding in mid-June. They were briefing the portfolio committees on public enterprises and energy in a joint sitting on progress in addressing governance challenges and securing coal supplies. Acting CFO Calib Cassim told the committee that industrial action over the past year was the worst he had experienced in his 28 years at the power utility, describing it as “unprecedented”. “Load shedding was a result of the industrial action, not because Eskom had a capacity constraint. The highest demand was met with existing capacity,” he stated. Stay-aways and intimidation during a period of wage negotiations with unions led to reduced production, Cassim indicated and went on to say: “During the period we lost quite a lot of megawatts. We had to shut units down because we could not operate them for a long duration.” Coal could not be transported to the units, he said. The committee heard that low coal stockpiles were a serious concern. The strike resulted in the loss of two system stock days. The average coal stock level is 28.2 days - it would have been 30.2 days excluding the strike, Cassim said. Read this report by Lameez Omarjee in full at Fin24
Joburg EMS and JMPD female staff march on Tuesday calling for equal rights EWN reports that women employed by Johannesburg Emergency Management Services (EMS) and the Johannesburg Metro Police Department (JMPD) marched to the JMPD headquarters in Martindale on Tuesday to hand over a memorandum to management demanding equal rights in the workplace. The women said they were being harassed and overlooked for top management positions because of their gender. When the women gathered, they held up placards reading: ‘Real men are feminists’ and ‘Our bodies, our minds, our power’. Dudu Tshabalala, a superintendent at the JMPD, said women should not be treated differently. “We want to see our department with a [female] deputy director, chief of police, [we seek] equal job opportunities for women.” Top management in the JMPD was expected to receive a list of grievances from the marchers and indicate when they could respond to the concerns. A short report by Mia Lindeque is at EWN
ConCourt ruling on organisational rights of minority unions ‘will fuel chaos’ BusinessLive reports that a Constitutional Court (ConCourt) ruling that has reinforced the organisational rights of minority trade unions in the workplace was problematic and would lead to chaos and heightened inter-union rivalry according to some labour experts. Organisational rights refer to access to workplaces for union organisers, the deduction of union subscriptions from employees’ wages and time off for trade union activities. The Police and Prisons Civil Rights Union (Popcru) filed an appeal at the ConCourt following a drawn-out battle to revoke the SA Correctional Services Workers Union’s (Sacoswu’s) recognition at the Department of Correctional Services (DCS), where the former is a majority union. The DCS entered into a collective bargaining agreement with Sacoswu in 2010, inter alia giving it rights to represent its members at disciplinary hearings. This was in spite of an existing threshold agreement Popcru had with the employer since 2001, barring the admission of unions with fewer than 9,000 members to the DCS bargaining council. Sacoswu only had 1,500 members then. The ConCourt dismissed Popcru’s appeal and said the DCS was not precluded from concluding a collective agreement on organisational rights with Sacoswu while its threshold agreement with Popcru was still operational. The provisions of the Labour Relations Act in question have also undergone some changes since the matter first arose. Labour consultant Tony Healy commented on the ruling: "It promotes the proliferation of unions in a single workplace and can, depending on how far it goes, at best destabilise a workplace or wreak havoc." Read this report by Theto Mahlakoana in full at BusinessLive. Read a media summary as well as the full ConCourt judgment at ConCourt Judgments. Read Saftu’s perspective on the judgment at Saftu News Transport union Untu goes to CCMA to get disclosure of Gautrain financials GroundUp reports that last week the United National Transport Union (Untu), joined by the Federation of Unions of SA (Fedusa), lodged two CCMA disputes against Bombela, the Gautrain’s operating company, for alleged unfair labour practices. This came after the Gautrain employees represented by Untu went on a two-week wage strike, which ended on 13 August with an agreement. The first dispute is about Bombela’s refusal to disclose its financial statements to the union during the wage negotiations. The second is about Bombela allegedly locking certain employees out of the premises while granting access to others during the strike. Despite signing the wage agreement without seeing Bombela’s financial statements, the union’s spokesperson Sonja Carstens said they were determined to ensure transparency. Untu general secretary Steve Harris said the union had been prepared to sign a non-disclosure agreement preventing it from making Bombela’s financials public, but the company still refused. Carstens claimed that Bombela’s refusal to release its financials ultimately led to the strike. But Bombela spokesperson Kesagee Nayager said that Untu only requested the financials during the final round of mediated negotiations that took place on 27 July, after the strike notice had already been issued. Nayager also said Bombela was a private company and “it had no obligation to make its financial statement public”. Read this report by Zoë Postman in full at GroundUp
eThekwini metro police department 'grossly understaffed' The Mercury reports that the eThekwini Metro Police is grossly understaffed, having recruited less than an average of 100 officers per year for the past eight years. This was said by the Head of Metro Police, Commissioner Steve Middleton, who was speaking at the municipality’s stakeholder session on crime prevention, held at the City Hall on Monday. Highlighting the challenges to effective bylaw enforcement, Middleton said: “Last year, we recruited 200 officers and are currently on a drive to recruit about 400 more. These recruits will undergo training before they are ready to hit the streets in about six to eight months.” Currently, there were just over 2,500 officers working in shifts. Taking into account the city’s surface area, this left one-eighth of an officer on the ground at any given time for every square kilometre. Middleton said it was difficult to maintain visibility with those numbers. Applications for the current recruitment drive close on Friday, 7 September at midday. Read this report by Nosipho Mngoma in full at The Mercury
Sadtu says teaching in mother tongue will boost education Timeslive reports that the SA Democratic Teachers’ Union (Sadtu) wants better funding and development of teaching in mother tongue languages at schools to improve education in the country. "We have not debated this enough. Countries like Cambodia and Singapore are doing well because they prioritise teaching learners in their mother tongue‚” said Sadtu general secretary Mugwena Maluleke‚ addressing the 2018 Education Indaba in Pretoria on Tuesday. The indaba‚ a national gathering of education stakeholders‚ was scheduled to take place on Tuesday and Wednesday. The gathering was expected to take a close look at early childhood development. Maluleke said teachers needed to be trained to instruct pupils in their own language. "If we allow teachers to teach in mother tongue‚ we will get good results and good teachers." The process of hiring permanent teachers also had to be accelerated‚ along with having adequate support staff‚ Maluleke added. "Schools that are doing well academically‚ prioritise support staff," he opined. Basic Education director-general Mathanzima Mweli said challenges faced by the education department were‚ mostly‚ due to budget cuts. Read this report by Nomahlubi Jordaan in full at Timeslive
NSFAS boss Steven Zwane suspended for maladministration BusinessLive reports that the National Student Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS) suspended its executive officer Steven Zwane with immediate effect on Monday evening. "The suspension follows allegations of maladministration against Mr Zwane. To ensure fairness and allow the process to proceed uninhibited‚ Mr Zwane has been relieved from his duties pending the outcome of the investigation‚" NSFAS spokesperson Kagisho Mamabolo indicated. The statement indicated that administrator Randall Carolissen was currently reviewing governance at NSFAS and added: "This is in line with the ministerial mandate to oversee the management‚ governance‚ and administration of the entity. This includes all necessary forensic and other investigations currently underway." Higher Education Minister Naledi Pandor appointed Carolissen as the NSFAS administrator on 21 August. Zwane’s suspension came just weeks after Sizwe Nxasana resigned as NSFAS chairperson. This short report by Nico Gous is at BusinessLive
Transport union Untu warns that Prasa disasters ‘bound to happen’ Business Report writes that the United National Transport Union (Untu) has branded the embattled Passenger Rail Agency of SA (Prasa) trains as a disaster waiting to happen and has accused the government of ignoring red flags. The union said on Monday that it was in the process of launching a court bid to force Prasa to adhere to safety standards. According to Untu general secretary Steve Harris, more than 50% of the signals used by train crews were out of order due to theft and vandalism. Manual train authorisations (MTAs) made trains more exposed to coalitions and derailments as human error might occur, Harris noted. Untu has called on its members, who constitute more than half of Prasa’s workforce, to inform the union of each safety incident, irrespective of the seriousness, to allow it to compose a comprehensive timeline to bolster its case. The union further hit out at Minister of Transport Blade Nzimande, accusing him of forcing the Railway Safety Regulator (RSR) to issue the rail agency with a temporary safety permit earlier this month. Prasa spokesperson Nana Zenani said the company was committed to complying with safety standards and would not wilfully risk the lives of its employees and commuters. A Department of Transport spokesperson said the statement by Untu was reckless and unfounded. Read more of this report by Kabelo Khumalo at SA Labour News. Read Untu’s press statement at SA Labour News
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