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Engineering News reports that following a further breakdown in trust between the management of Denel and labour after last week’s announcement that the company had not paid over retirement fund contributions, a special labour forum was held on Thursday to discuss the crisis.
According to a letter to employees of the state-owned defence company, pension fund contributions for the month of June had been deducted from employees’ salaries, but not paid over to the pension fund. “There is still some uncertainty about exactly what has been paid and what not. According to feedback we received yesterday (Wednesday), medical aid contributions were paid, but not pay-as-you-earn (PAYE) tax, Unemployment Insurance Fund (UIF) contributions or pension fund contributions for June,” Solidarity’s Helgard Cronjé indicated on Thursday. The United Association of SA (Uasa) said it was “deeply concerned” about Denel being “less than honest” with its employees. In a statement on Friday, the union said that Denel CEO Daniel du Toit had last month indicated to workers that it remained Denel’s priority to ensure that employees’ salaries, pension fund contributions, PAYE tax and UIF were the first to be paid on a monthly basis. "Du Toit had said, on June 26, that these payments were up to date, which was not true,” the union lamented. The unions present at Thursday’s forum meeting requested that a follow-up meeting be held this week with Denel’s management and they will be requesting a thorough report indicating proof of the exact dates of payment to the pension fund. According to Uasa, Denel will be meeting with the employees’ pension fund, Denret, on 15 July to discuss interim arrangements. Solidarity said it would “not hesitate to take the necessary action to protect the interests of its members”.
- Read the full original of the report in the above regard at Engineering News
- Read Uasa’s press statement at Polity
Get other news reports at the SA Labour News home page