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Jobs bloodbath looms as lockdown stoppages due to pandemic start to bite

Details

newsSowetanLive reports that SA is facing a massive jobs bloodbath with dozens of companies across various sectors serving employees with retrenchment notices.  

Some of the section 189 (retrenchment) notices were served on workers last week with companies blaming the suspension of operations due to Covid-19 for plans to cut thousands of jobs.  Mining unions have been served with a number of notices.  Vaal Main Reef, which employs more than 6,300 employees, gave notice to its employees on Friday, indicating that it was experiencing "significant economic stress" which would force it to shed jobs.  The company announced that its three mining operations - Tau Lekoa mine, Kopanang mine and West Gold Plant - needed urgent restructuring.  Kangra Coal in its notice served on workers on Thursday stated that it was "foreseeing" a loss of all its 428 employees due, among others factors, to depleted coal and the effects of Covid-19 on operations and markets.  Several other mining companies have also told unions that they will be forced to cut jobs.  But, the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) described the notices from Vaal Main Reef and Kangra Coal as "opportunistic."  Essau Tau, the National Union of Metalworkers of SA’s (Numsa's) Mpumalanga secretary, said he was dealing with three 189 notices, with two having been served on workers just prior to the lockdown.  York Timber in Mbombela, Samanco and Manganese Metal Corporation (MMC) have all began consultative process as they prepare to shed jobs.  Last week, the embattled SAA served all its 4,700 employees with retrenchment notices.

  • Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Isaac Mahlangu and Kgothatso Madisa at SowetanLive


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