Today's Labour News

COVID-19 PANDEMIC

Cosatu’s vaccine U-turn revolved around retail and manufacturing affiliates versus public sector unions

Financial Mail reports that Cosatu’s U-turn on Covid-19 vaccine mandates came about at a heated high-level meeting on Monday that was held after President Cyril Ramaphosa’s announcement the night before that a task team would "undertake broad consultations on making vaccination mandatory for specific activities and locations".   The meeting included the labour federation’s top leaders and its provincial structures. A proposal was made to include the general secretaries of the large affiliates, but this was rejected as it would have further complicated the decision-making process. In the end, Cosatu had to choose between the broader economy and the demands of its largest affiliates, namely the public sector unions. Those in favour of vaccine mandates argued that the federation had 17 affiliates, and members of those in the retail and manufacturing sectors have been battered by the lockdowns. Thousands of them have lost their jobs. Further lockdowns would only deepen the misery for workers in those sectors.   On the other hand, public servants — represented by large affiliates such as the National Education, Health & Allied Workers Union (Nehawu) — have not lost their jobs and have been largely protected, financially, from the impact of the pandemic. These were the affiliates arguing against vaccine mandates. Their members are among those resisting getting the jab. Cosatu, for its part, is set to face a backlash from Nehawu over its stance, but the upside is that the government can no longer use labour as an excuse for dragging its heels on vaccine mandates. The federation, too, is learning that it cannot please all of its affiliates all of the time. It also seems to be learning to place the greater good above its own narrow interests, something that is long overdue.

Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Natasha Marrian at BusinessLive (subscriber access only)

Vaccine passports may start in SA in early 2022

BL Premium reports that unvaccinated South Africans could face restrictions on being able to access public services and places of employment as soon as the beginning of 2022. Talks between the government, business and labour on the introduction of a form of a Covid-19 vaccine passport system are at an advanced stage. A passport system would restrict access to certain events and would not involve people being forced to take jabs against their will. While the word "mandate" implies compulsion, in the SA context it is roughly equivalent to a passport system.   Apparently, negotiations have been happening at the National Economic Development & Labour Council (Nedlac) for months. The parties expect to agree on a proposal that could be released within weeks for public comment. According to insiders involved in the talks at Nedlac, President Cyril Ramaphosa’s statement on Sunday, in which he announced that a task team had been set up to look into the introduction of vaccine mandates for specific activities and locations, was a result of the Nedlac process. Business and labour sources also said that legal opinion had been sought in anticipation of a possible constitutional challenge to vaccine mandates.   Companies such as Discovery have pressed on with mandates for their employees, having sought legal advice that left them confident they would successfully repel challenges. The new sense of urgency comes as SA’s vaccination programme falters, with just 35% of the population inoculated. Business for SA’s Martin Kingston said on Tuesday that the organisation was encouraged by the formation of a task team to "work through the finer details" of vaccine mandates.

Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Hajra Omarjee at BusinessLive (subscriber access only)

Omicron drives ‘worrying’ surge in SA’s Covid cases, showing ‘very early stages of fourth wave’

AFP reports that health officials told parliament on Wednesday that the Omicron variant of Covid-19 has propelled a sharp rise in coronavirus cases in South Africa in recent weeks. They called the situation “worrying”. Michelle Groome of the National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NICD) said there had been an “exponential increase” over the past two weeks, from a weekly average of around 300 new cases per day to 1,000 last week and most recently 3,500. Late on Wednesday, the NICD said 8,561 new cases had reported nationwide over 24 hours, up from almost 4,400 the day before and 2,300 on Monday.   In Gauteng, the rate of tests coming back positive rose to 27% on Wednesday. Groome said the figures represented “very early stages of the fourth wave” of Covid-19 infections. The “rapidly increasing number of new daily cases” was “fuelled by the variant” dubbed Omicron, she added. After first spreading through younger people aged 10-29, many celebrating the end of the school year, “it is starting to move to older age groups”.

Read the full original of the report in the above regard at The Citizen. Read too, Covid-19 update: SA records 8,561 new cases and 28 deaths, at The Citizen. And also, Too early to tell how severe new Covid-19 variant is, experts tell parliament, at TimesLIVE

SANDF ordered by health products regulator to return unlicensed Covid drug to Cuba

BusinessLive reports that SA’s health products regulator has ordered the defence force to return an unregistered Covid-19 drug obtained from Cuba, or face having it confiscated and destroyed. This is the first time the regulator has made such an order following investigations. SA National Defence Force (SANDF) officials implicated in the scandal may be held personally liable for the R260m billed by the Cubans, according to a report by the auditor-general presented to parliament’s defence committee on Wednesday.   The SANDF has paid R120m to date.   The SANDF is under fire for violating acquisition rules and health regulatory protocols to procure Heberon Interferon-Alpha-2B. The unregistered drug was imported in 2020 at the peak of the first wave of Covid-19 without the regulator’s approval and stored at unlicensed premises. The SA Health Products Regulatory Authority (Sahpra) and the auditor-general’s office are conducting separate investigations into the matter, and there are calls for SANDF officials and former defence minister Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula to be held accountable. Sahpra intended to report the implicated officials to the Health Professions Council of SA, the statutory regulator of healthcare professions, for non-compliance, Sahpra CEO Boitumelo Semete told MPs on Wednesday. In its report to the defence committee, officials from the auditor-general’s office said their investigation had concluded that all expenditure incurred for the project had been irregular.

Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Bekezela Phakathi at BusinessLive

Ballito Rage cancelled after 36 cases reported on opening day of week-long party

SowetanLIVE reports that on Wednesday organisers of the Ballito Rage Festival cancelled the event after 36 people tested positive for Covid-19 on the opening day of the week-long event. The annual festival held in Ballito, KwaZulu-Natal, kicked off on Tuesday in spite of the public disapproving of its continuation in light of the Omicron Covid-19 variant and the national upsurge in the number of infections. In a statement released by the organisers on Wednesday, they reported that out of the 940 guests and staff who were tested, 32 guests and four staff members tested positive. “After further exhaustive review this morning (Wednesday), consultation and guidance from the local and provincial departments of health and other key stakeholders, the decision was collectively made to cancel the event going forward based on the data now available to us,” said the organisers.   This was despite the event organisers earlier reassuring the public that adequate precautionary measures would be taken to curb the spread of the virus during the festival. The event was severely criticised as a Covid-19 super-spreader last year after there were 848 positive cases (846 of which were festival goers and two festival staff).

Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Tankiso Makhetha at SowetanLIVE. Read too, Plett festival rages on despite new Omicron variant, at TimesLIVE

Other internet posting(s) in this news category

• SA in talks with Pfizer, Merck for Covid-19 pills, at Fin24

OCCUPATIONAL SAFETY

Two Cape Town workers overcome by hazardous vapours rescued from storm water pipe

News24 reports that two workers were rescued after they were trapped in a storm water pipe in Cape Town on Tuesday. According to the City of Cape Town, the men were doing maintenance work when they were overcome by hazardous vapours and collapsed.   The City's firefighters were called to attend to the situation under the Weltevreden Bridge, across the R300, near Mitchells Plain, at approximately 16:00. "They called for the technical confined space rescue team from Goodwood to assist Metro Emergency Medical Service and were joined by Metro ambulance staff, Law Enforcement, Traffic Service and South African Police Service officers, as well as a private ambulance service," the City indicated in a statement. The Goodwood station commander took over as the incident commander and immediately enforced a confined space rescue system.     "Gas reading showed oxygen levels were only acceptable when fresh air was being pumped in through the manhole.   Without it, the oxygen level dropped rapidly and this was a concern. This meant they had to do a gas reading every five minutes, increasing the pressure on what was already a tense situation," said Mayco member for safety and security JP Smith. Metro Rescue set up a quadpod, with rope systems, for a high anchor point above the opening. Firefighters assisted with additional rope work for the hauling and lowering of the rescuer and the patients.

Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Cebelihle Mthethwa and view photos at News24. Read too, Praise for staff after successful rescue, at Cape Times

INDUSTRIAL ACTION / STRIKES

Massmart confident of business as usual despite ongoing strike

BL Premium reports that as the indefinite wage strike at Massmart continues, the company is confident that it has enough capacity to serve its customers during the busy festive season irrespective of whether workers accept the retailer’s proposals or not.   Parties have refused to share details of proposals that could see workers going back to their posts within the retailer’s more than 400 stores in the country. The SA Commercial, Catering and Allied Workers’ Union (Saccawu), which claims to have about membership of 20,000 among Massmart’s 45,000-strong workforce, embarked on an indefinite strike on 19 November in support of its demand for a R500 increase across the board against management’s proposal of R320. The union is also disputing alleged unilateral restructuring and changes to terms and conditions of employment affecting the group's customer-relation officers. According to Massmart senior vice-president of corporate affairs, Brian Leroni, the industrial action at its peak “only attracted 42% support” from the union’s membership base. “We have maintained ongoing communication with Saccawu and are awaiting their response to proposals made during these discussions,” Leroni advised. He did not say what the proposals were.   Saccawu national spokesperson Sithembele Tshwete indicated that the union was still consulting its membership on the proposals made by Massmart. “We want to get a mandate on whether to settle or continue with the strike,” he said.   “It would be wrong to state in the media what the proposals are before our members have had a chance to interact with them,” he noted.

Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Luyolo Mkentane at BusinessLive (subscriber access only)

After salaries not paid, parents beg staff at Durban mental health facility to return to work and care for disabled

SowetanLIVE reports that workers who care for 84 profoundly disabled people at Durban and Coastal Mental Health’s (DCMH’s) Jona Vaughan residential facility are back at work after the parents' association “begged them” and raised money for their transport costs. The 40 staff members, who physically care for the residents and provide them with their daily meals, did not arrive at work last week because they had not been paid since September. They were also told it was unlikely they would be paid in November. The Jona Vaughan Parents' Association contacted volunteers to assist.   Treasurer Charmaine Maas reported that the association and guardians of the persons in the facility had earlier written to DCMH and the provincial department of health to warn that the staff would walk out if they were not paid. She said the workers were also in tears. They had no money to feed their own families or pay school fees.   Maas advised that they were providing the staff with food hampers and giving them leftovers if possible, on top of donations of R900 each. DCMH was also going to contribute R100 a day towards transport. DCMH blamed the provincial health department for cutting off subsidies. Last month, senior managers reportedly “fled'' the head office in Sherwood after some staff members staged a protest. Meanwhile, a report on allegations of misconduct at DCMH, including mismanagement of funds, has been submitted to the health department for consideration. Pending a decision on the findings, funding will now be extended month to month until the end of March next year.

Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Tania Broughton at SowetanLIVE

MINING LABOUR

Mineworker dies at Sibanye-Stillwater’s Beatrix gold mine in the Free State

Mining Weekly reports that the Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union (AMCU) has expressed concern about the death on Tuesday of a mineworker at Sibanye-Stillwater’s Beatrix operation, in the Free State. The union indicated that, according to a report received, a suspected blasting incident happened at 3 North Shaft at Beatrix, resulting in a fall of ground which injured five mineworkers and killed one winch driver. Sibanye confirmed the incident, adding that the remaining four employees were in a Welkom-based hospital under observation.     AMCU health and safety national chairperson Xolani Bokoloshe was unable to confirm whether this incident was “the result of blasting or whether it happened owing to erosion on the face”. He reiterated that AMCU had consistently called for mine bosses to be held criminally liable for accidents where negligence could be proven. AMCU also recently called on the Department of Mineral resources and Energy to lead an inquest into the rising mining fatalities. There has been no update yet in that regard, though Sibanye emphasised that "all incidents are investigated with the regulators and other stakeholders and remedial efforts made to try and prevent incidents occurring in future". The total number of mining fatalities for 2021 currently stands at 65, already surpassing the fatalities in 2020 (60) and 2019 (51) at year-end

Read the full original of the report in the above regard at Mining Weekly

As gold wage strike looms, Sibanye-Stillwater puts stringent rules in place to safeguard its assets

BL Premium reports that gold producer Sibanye-Stillwater has put in place stringent rules to ensure its assets are not damaged during a looming wage strike by a coalition of four mining unions. In its picketing rules, Sibanye has effectively called on the unions to rat out troublemakers during the strike, assist the company in taking disciplinary steps against them for any acts of misconduct and, if relevant, assist with criminal prosecutions. The four unions, namely the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM), the Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union (Amcu), Solidarity and Uasa, approached the Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration (CCMA) last week to apply for a certificate of non-resolution after wage talks between the parties deadlocked. A revised proposal by Sibanye made on 18 November would have given the lowest-paid employees increases of R570, R640 and R670 over three years, while miners, artisans and officials would have received increases of 4.5%, 4.9% and 4.9% during the three-year term. However, last Tuesday workers rejected the proposed deal and stuck to their demand for a wage hike of R1,000 each year for three years.   After the deal was rejected by workers, the company reverted to the offer tabled to unions on 19 October.   The parties will reconvene on 13 December for a final engagement session when a certificate of non-resolution will be issued. The unions will have to provide the employer with a 48 hours’ notice before embarking on a strike. According to NUM spokesperson Livhuwani Mammburu, the unions were still working on the picketing rules. “Sibanye-Stillwater has already submitted its picketing rules, after the unions submit theirs, the CCMA will then issue the certificate of non-resolution to enable us to go on strike,” he stated.

Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Luyolo Mkentane at BusinessLive (subscriber access only)

LABOUR MARKET / IMMIGRATION

Department of Employment Labour tells MPs that migrants make up about 7% of SA’s labour force and 4% of the population

Fin24 reports that according to the Department of Employment and Labour (DEL), migrants constitute about 4% of the population in SA and 7% of the country's labour force. The department made a presentation to Parliament's Portfolio Committee on Tourism on Tuesday.   Migration patterns tracked by the department shows that, especially since 2000, there has been a "dramatic influx" of mainly undocumented migrant workers. A worrying trend for the DEL is that these migrants are particularly concentrated in the informal sector. The department would like to see access to SA's labour market regulated and monitored via "a flexible quota system", a streamlined and seamless visa regime and strong bilateral and multi-lateral partnerships among SADC countries. "Support SADC regional labour market initiatives via ring-fenced visa arrangements to the benefit of SADC citizens," the department suggested.   According to the DEL, there is a need to address insufficient and absent policy frameworks, for example, concerning recruitment, data requirements, and labour migration to and from SA. An appropriate legislative framework has to accompany the policy in order to provide the mandate for state interventions. In the view of the department, it is thus necessary to review current bilateral labour agreements. Insufficient regulatory frameworks, for example regarding recruitment, also need to be addressed.

Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Carin Smith at Fin24

BUSINESS RESCUE

Creditors, including retrenched staff, give nod to CNA business-rescue plan

BL Premium reports that CNA, the 125-year-old stationer, has been saved on the brink of collapse, after more than 75% of its creditors approved its business-rescue plan. Just more than 78% of those owed money — including retrenched staff, suppliers and landlords — voted to save the chain. Black Mountain Investment Management will pay just R2m for more than 60 stores in terms of the plan. The ailing retailer owes creditors including former staff R264m. They will not receive the money they are owed under the proposed plan, yet surprisingly voted on Tuesday to keep the business alive. In June, CNA was placed in business rescue, a process that allows practitioners to take control of the company to restructure it and attract new investors while staving off creditors. Stefan Steyn, a turnaround expert, took over when there were 80 stores and has been closing loss-making stores, shut down the head office, cut the management salaries more than 40% and hunted for buyers.   Had the proposal not passed, CNA would have been liquidated and about 300 employees would have been left without work. In Steyn’s view, the proposal to save the business was passed because the new owners committed to making R18m available to buy stock and pay for products soon.   It was a “social” vote to save jobs at stores that would remain open in a country with the world’s highest unemployment rate, he said.

Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Katharine Child at BusinessLive (subscriber access only)

WORKPLACE CORRUPTION

Whistleblower portal launched by Solidarity to expose corruption in Eskom

On Wednesday, Solidarity announced the launching of a new, protected whistleblower portal with the aim of empowering employees to expose corruption at Eskom. According to the trade union, “the majority of employees at Eskom are good people who work hard, but a culture of looting and corruption makes it impossible for them to do their jobs effectively.” Solidarity asserted that corruption had become institutionalised in Eskom. “Internal corruption networks are stealing the power of ordinary tax payers.   There is a gangster network in Eskom and they are enriching themselves while ordinary South Africans are sitting in the dark,” said Solidarity CEO Dr Dirk Hermann. Solidarity stated that it would act as a watchdog to ensure action was taken by employers against those who plundered, and to ensure that they were prosecuted. Although the platform was launched with specific focus on Eskom, Solidarity indicated that it was also a platform where anyone could blow the whistle on corruption at any state-owned enterprise and even at private enterprises. On a regular basis and without exposing the whistleblowers, Solidarity will make public reports on corruption trends that have been reported.

Read the full original of Solidarity’s press statement in the above regard at Solidarity News