Engineering News reports that trade union Uasa has demanded that Department of Public Enterprises (DPE) Minister Pravin Gordhan clarify issues regarding the nonpayment of employees at state-owned enterprise (SOE) Denel.
This was by letter to the Minister. Many staff at the defence industrial group have not received their full pay and benefits since August last year, in spite of rulings by the Labour Court that Denel must pay them. In the letter, the union also demanded clarity about the government’s response to the recent application by Saab Grintek Defence and SME Infratech for the liquidation of Denel. The application is set to be heard in the Gauteng High Court on 11 October. “In the event that the liquidation applications are granted and Denel is placed in final liquidation this will be the death knell for thousands of jobs followed by the devastating social-economic impact of unemployment,” Uasa spokesperson Abigail Moyo pointed out. Consequently, the union was demanding to know if the state was going to oppose the liquidation application, and if Denel’s employees would receive all their outstanding pay and benefits in full. Further, Uasa wants to know if Denel will receive the same support from the DPE other financially-embattled SOEs, such as SA Airways, have received.
- Read the full original of the report in the above regard at Engineering News
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