Today's Labour News

TOP STORY – CORONAVIRUS CRISIS & LOCKDOWN

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

SowetanLive 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

Call for construction industry to be deemed an essential service

BusinessLive reports that the Master Builders Associations (MBA) have called for the construction industry to be declared an essential service during the lockdown in order to prevent the loss of up to 108,000 jobs and the cancellation of contracts.  The industry has been battling many challenges over the past decade, including a lack of government infrastructure projects, rising electricity costs, non-payment by the government and other state entities, and the hijacking of construction sites by a “construction mafia”, which includes members of the public who demand cuts of contracts and threaten violence if they are not rewarded.  The MBA last week sent a letter to Public Works Minister Patricia de Lille imploring that the industry should be able to send its staff back to work by next week.  The letter was sent after a construction Covid-19 rapid response task team, which includes the SA Property Owners Association, was put together by the MBA.  “The reactivation would clearly be subject to the adherence of strict safety guidelines in order to prevent the spread of the Covid-19 virus, and these guidelines are outlined in the document,” the MBA’s executive director for the Western Cape, Allen Bodill, indicated.  The executive director of MBA North, Mohau Mphomela, said construction and related industries made a strong case to be considered as essential services given how many people they employed and how important their role was in the economy.

Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Alistair Anderson at BusinessLive

Phumelela Gaming warns of job losses if lockdown is extended

BusinessLive reports that horse-racing operator Phumelela Gaming and Leisure has warned that if SA’s lockdown is extended past the beginning of May, there would likely be significant job losses in the racing industry.  The group said on Monday that revenue from online betting was insufficient to offset loss of revenue from the suspension of race meetings and the closure of betting shops.  About 40,000 jobs are dependent on SA’s horse racing industry.  “If racing is not given authority to resume in early May, together with the opening of betting shops, it is likely that a rationalisation of the entire horse racing industry and associated value chain in SA will occur with consequent significant loss of jobs and reduced tax collections,” Phumelela warned.  Phumelela had described its year to end-July 2019 as the “worst in its history,” warning at the time that its losses couldn't be sustained after it reported a headline loss of almost R100m.

Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Karl Gernetzky at BusinessLive

Health authorities get new powers to redeploy state medical staff

BL Premium reports that Health Minister Zweli Mhize has published new regulations that give the government sweeping powers to redeploy doctors, nurses and other health-care personnel to combat SA’s Covid-19 epidemic.  His move could worsen an already tense relationship with trade unions, which are smarting over the government’s recent decision to freeze wages.  The regulations means health authorities such as provincial health departments will be able to move personnel from one facility to another, to quarantine sites, to another town, or even across provincial boundaries.  They were published the day before the start of the Easter long weekend and seem to have ‘slipped under the radar’.  None of the key unions representing health-care personnel working in the state sector appear to be aware of the new powers granted to their employers.  It is not clear what scope health-care personnel have to say no to redeployment.  While an emergency situation required drastic action, it was vital that redeployed staff be provided with the appropriate training and equipment, said Solidarity’s sector head for its health-care guild Henru Kruger.

Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Tamar Kahn at BusinessLive (paywall access only)

No Covid-19 protective gear, no work, Nehawu proclaims

BusinessLive reports that SA’s largest public service union, the National Education, Health and Allied Workers Union (Nehawu), has called on public and private healthcare sector workers to not perform their duties if employers do not provide protective equipment to shield them against Covid-19.  The union's call followed health minister Dr Zweli Mkhize’s recent remarks that an ongoing investigation into allegations of noncompliance at Netcare St Augustine's hospital in Durban would reveal how and why 48 nurses tested positive for Covid-19.  There have been other cases elsewhere of nurses testing positive.  Nehawu general secretary Zola Saphetha said they had observed “an upsurge” in the number of healthcare workers who had been exposed to the virus.  He said:  “Private healthcare providers are the biggest culprits in failing to put proactive measures to protect workers from contracting the virus while in the front-line of actively fighting the virus.  In this regard, we call on all healthcare workers not to perform their duties without proper and sufficient provision of protection in a manner that puts their lives at risk.  Workers are encouraged to put their lives first before attending to the nation.”  Saphetha also called on managers to not force or intimidate employees to work without protection as “this is tantamount to attempted murder and a criminal offence”.

Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Luyolo Mkentane at BusinessLive

Six doctors and 17 staff members at Life Eugene Marais Hospital in Pretoria self-isolate after exposure to coronavirus

The Star reports that the Life Healthcare Group has confirmed that 17 staff members and six doctors from Life Eugene Marais Hospital in Pretoria, who were exposed to the coronavirus, are isolating at home.  Life Healthcare’s Dr Charl van Loggerenberg said the exposed staff members were following guidelines as per the National Institute for Communicable Diseases.  He indicated that as a result of the growing number of confirmed infections in the country at a number of facilities, including Eugene Marais Hospital, they had begun implementing stringent infection prevention measures and processes.  These included the introduction of a universal mask policy for employees, doctors and hospital visitors.  Additionally, a healthcare workers’ exposure policy was in place to ensure the effective management and resourcing of facilities for if, or when, healthcare workers became exposed to the virus.  With the availability of personal protective equipment being a key concern for those in the health arena, Van Loggerenberg stressed that the doctors who might have been exposed had worn the appropriate equipment.

Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Goitsemang Tlhabye on page 1 of The Star of 21 April 2020

Khayelitsha metro police branch temporarily closed after employee tests positive for Covid-19

News24 reports that an employee at the Khayelitsha office of the Cape Town Metro Police has tested positive for Covid-19, as the Western Cape's latest number of confirmed cases increased to 905.  By Monday, 53 of the confirmed cases of Covid-19 in the province were in Khayelitsha.  Traffic department spokesperson Wayne Dyason said the office had been evacuated and sanitised, and would be reopened on Thursday.  He added that all workers who were on the same shift as the infected person were in isolation.  The metro police have been part of a multi-agency law enforcement response in policing the nationwide lockdown.   They have been manning roadblocks, controlling access to shelters and providing security for food distribution agencies.

Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Jenni Evans at News24

Bidvest forces 70,000 workers to take annual leave or unpaid leave during lockdown

Business Insider SA reports that Bidvest, one of the largest companies in SA, has forced 70,000 of its staff, who can’t work during national lockdown, to take leave.  If they don’t have enough annual leave days available, the leave will be unpaid.  Those employees will each get R2,000 from Bidvest, specifically for food and other essentials.  Bidvest will also apply for benefits for employees in terms of the new Covid-19 Temporary Employee/Employer Relief Scheme (TERS), whereby the Unemployment Insurance Fund (UIF) will “top up” salaries to a maximum of R6,730 a month (for those earning more than R17,700).  The company hopes that the UIF payments together with the additional R2,000 per month will ensure that the majority of Bidvest’s SA employees receive their full salary during the lockdown period.  Staff received their full salaries for March.  Bidvest owns a large group of diverse companies - including freight, security, car dealerships and office service subsidiaries - as well as a majority stake in pharmaceutical group Adcock Ingram.  The company employs some 100,000 people in SA.  Only 30,000 are currently working during the lockdown.  Bidvest has given a commitment that no employees will be retrenched during the lockdown period.  Executives in the company have agreed to a 40% pay cut during the lockdown.

Read the full original of the report in the above regard at Business Insider. Read too, Bidvest instructs staff to take leave, paid or unpaid, at Sunday Independent

Other internet posting(s) in this news category

• Nxesi seeks additional processing capacity as first R1.1bn in TERS claims are paid, at Mining Weekly
• Wider relief for companies struggling to pay workers, at Moneyweb

REMUNERATION / SALARY ADMINISTRATION

Comair employees won’t get full salaries during extended Covid-19 lockdown

BusinessLive reports that as Comair battles a cash-flow crunch in the lockdown that has grounded all of its planes, the airline has scrapped plans to pay a portion of the salaries of employees on unpaid leave.  Comair, which owns Kulala.com, sent employees on compulsory annual leave during the lockdown and offered to cover 40% of basic salaries (of unpaid leave) for the initial lockdown period.  But the company now indicated:  “Comair will unfortunately not be in a position to pay the 40% basic salary for unpaid leave during the extended lockdown period.”  The move prompted an angry response from union leaders.  Numsa spokesperson Phakamile Hlubi-Majola accused Comair’s new CEO Wrenelle Stander of taking decisions without consulting unions, saying she was more interested in the balance sheet than the health and wellbeing of Comair’s employees.  According to Comair, it was “permitted” to ask employees to take leave as per the provisions of the Basic Conditions of Employment Act, and that its approach in that regard was “aligned to that of many other employers over this time”.  However, Hlubi-Majola said the decision was wrong and that the government had made it very clear that it was wrong for employers to force workers to rely on their leave when there was the Covid-19 Temporary Employee/Employer Relief Scheme (Ters).  

Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Luyolo Mkentane at BusinessLive

SACP warns its staff to expect late salary payments in April

News24 reports that SA Communist Party (SACP) staffers at both its head office and provincial offices have been warned to expect late payments in April after the party failed to pay salaries last month.  National treasurer Joyce Moloi-Moropa told employees in a letter to brace themselves for yet another difficult month:  "Please be advised that due to financial flow challenges the April 2020 salaries will be delayed."  She blamed the disruption to its finances on issues such as unemployment and the economic distress being experienced in the country.  This has been exacerbated by the Covid-19 outbreak, which has seen the country going into a national lockdown and citizens being ordered to stay home.  Moloi-Moropa also admitted that there have been difficulties for most of the year, with salaries being paid days after it should have been.  When funding is secured, it will apparently be focused on staffers and not the political leaders of the organisation.  The SACP has had numerous financial troubles over the years, which also saw the party receiving support and being housed by labour federation Cosatu at its headquarters.

Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Tshidi Madia at News24

PUBLIC SECTOR SALARY INCREASES

Battle between government and public sector unions over salary increases intensifies

Independent News reports that the battle over government’s failure to increase the salaries of its 1.3 million employees in April is set for a hearing at the Public Service Co-ordinating Bargaining Council (PSCBC) next week.  Cosatu’s public sector unions declared a dispute at the PSCBC prior to the Covid-19 national lockdown.  On Monday, the PSCBC informed the National Education, Health and Allied Workers’ Union (Nehawu), SA’s largest public sector union, that the matter has been set down for three days of conciliation between Tuesday and Thursday next week.  On 15 April, which was payday for most public servants, the government failed to effect wage increases between 4.4% and 5.4%, depending on salary level, as stipulated in the 2018 wage agreement sealed at the PSCBC.  Nehawu said its members were disappointed and angry at not getting their salary increases.  Meantime, the Public Servants Association (PSA) has threatened to haul Public Service and Administration Minister Senzo Mchunu to the Labour Court over the failure to effect the salary increases.

Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Loyiso Sidimba at Independent News

BUSINESS RESCUE / RETRENCHMENTS

SAA unions, including Numsa and Sacca, to meet government on Tuesday over future of airline

BusinessLive reports that trade unions representing employees at SA Airways (SAA) are expecting to meet the Department of Public Enterprises and Minister Pravin Gordhan on Tuesday on the future of the state-owned airline.  After refusing to meet with SAA’s business rescue practitioners (BRPs) on Monday, the National Union of Metalworkers of SA (Numsa) and the SA Cabin Crew Association (Saaca), will apparently be part of the labour delegation.  The meeting is meant to discuss how to avoid the liquidation of SAA; the effect of the business rescue restructuring; and funding.  This will follow a meeting between some of the unions and the BRPs on Monday after practitioners Les Matuson and Siviwe Dongwana had sent them a draft proposal on the structured winding down of the airline.  The draft proposal, sent to all unions on Friday, set out the process for the termination of all employee contracts at the end of April, with severance packages only to be provided if funds existed at the end of the winding down of the company.  Unions have until Tuesday to submit their own proposal to the BRPs.  The airline, which was placed in business rescue in December, is insolvent.  The government last week informed the BRPs that it was unable to provide the airline with further funding.

Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Genevieve Quintal at BusinessLive. Read too, Political parties differ on SAA rescue plan, at Independent News

WORKING CONDITIONS

Fidelity guards in Lonehill lament inhumane conditions bosses subject them to

The Star reports that security guards working as essential staff for Fidelity Security under Covid-19 regulations have lamented the inhuman conditions they are subjected to.  The guards in Lonehill claimed on Monday that they were sleeping on inflatable mattresses and boxes following long nights keeping clients of the company safe.  The guards said they used water buckets to bathe in before going to their different place of work in the leafy Lonehill suburb.  The guards deployed at Lonehill Shopping Centre, Pineslopes Boulevard, St Peter’s College, Crawford College Lonehill and neighbouring estates, also claimed the Fidelity management did not provide them with food.  The guards’ ordeal allegedly began after the metro police arrested the security manager for loading 44 security officers into the back of a closed truck.  The manager, who was arrested for contravening Covid-19 regulations, then decided to stop transporting the guards home and arranged accommodation for them at vacant office space offered by one of Fidelity’s clients as a temporary place for them to sleep.  According to one guard, they were allowed to go home, but could not afford the transport costs.  Another guard said the conditions were almost as bad as those of a crowded prison.  Fidelity CE Wahl Bartmann said he would put an immediate stop to the arrangement.  “We take responsibility.  These are our people, and nobody will sleep on a client’s property unless approved by head office,” he said.

Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Gift Tlou at The Star