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.
Gideon du Plessis, general secretary of trade union Solidarity, writes that while Covid-19 is destroying lives and livelihoods, a legal debate is developing about whether the mining sector could make vaccination compulsory.
For instance, there is speculation that amendments to disaster management regulations aimed at enforcing the right to a safe workplace could also advance employer wishes for mandatory vaccinations. But, to avoid unnecessary litigation and to protect jobs, individual employers and unions need to agree on an approach to deal with the non-vaccinated. This would extend to employees who work together in confined spaces such as miners who work together at the rock face and get there using a cage. On the other hand, surface workers who operate in a low-risk environment would also need to be vaccinated to achieve herd immunity, but would have a stronger argument against vaccination. So, an agreement would also be required to deal with their situation. Du Plessis points out that one of the issues is whether non-vaccinated employees would be allowed to physically participate in the upcoming wage negotiations. The list of wage demands might also look very different, with the focus likely to shift to job security. To counter a union wage demand for a moratorium on retrenchments, employers might see an opportunity to push for mandatory vaccination as a quid pro quo. Productivity will be a related factor, and it will strengthen an employer’s motivation for mandatory vaccination when Covid-19-related absenteeism of non-vaccinated employees impacts productivity.
- Read the full original of Gideon du Plessis’ article in the above regard at Miningmx
Get other news reports at the SA Labour News home page