Fin24 reports that Transpaco CEO Phillip Abelheim on Wednesday denied accusations made by the National Union of Metalworkers of SA (Numsa) that the company had forced workers to clock in on Election Day.
He dismissed the claim as "an outright fabrication". Wednesday had been declared a public holiday to allow millions of South Africans reported to their respective voting stations to cast their votes and elect new national and provincial governments. Numsa released a statement yesterday, condemning Transpaco for "forcing workers to work on Election Day". The union said its regional officials in Johannesburg had learned that Transpaco employees had complained of dismissal threats if they failed to report for duty on Wednesday. Numsa regional secretary Oupa Ralaka indicated that they were acting on the basis of what they had heard from the workers themselves. But, Abelheim stated that Transpaco never threatened to dismiss workers who stayed away from work to vote. "It is an outright lie. The union has been doing this for a long time. We have just come from a strike which lasted for three months. It is not true that we have done this. Our factories are closed," Abelheim stated.
- Read the full original of Khulekani Magubane’s report on this story at Fin24
- See too, Cosatu slams employers over intimidation to force employees to go to work on Wednesday, on page 5 of The Star of 8 May 2019
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