GroundUp reports that tension remained high on Thursday at Simba’s factories in Isando and Elandsfontein, Gauteng, after workers downed tools and were briefly prevented from protesting outside on Wednesday.
Most of the workers returned to work on Thursday. On Thursday afternoon, Simba approached the Labour Court in Braamfontein for an urgent interdict against workers, the Simunye Workers’ Forum and the Casual Workers’ Advice Office to stop them from striking. According to Simunye, 217 labour broker workers were absorbed as permanent workers by Simba in 2018. Part of a settlement agreement made at the CCMA was that workers would get transport, paid for by Simba, to and from pick-up points. “Workers later discovered that Simba was deducting R16 per day from each worker for the transport, instead of providing it for free. These deductions were not even listed on the payslip. The workers have been in a long-standing battle to have this money returned and free transport reinstated,” Simunye claimed in a statement on Wednesday. Apparently other employees who became permanent before 2018 were not paying for transport, which caused division and unhappiness. More than 200 workers then decided this week to down tools after Simba had cancelled the transport. In April during negotiations, Simba apparently offered a once-off payment of R30,000 if workers agreed to accept this as a full and final settlement as backpay and for any future transport costs. Jacob Potlaki, from the Casual Workers Advice Office, said: “We refuse to take this [once-off offer of R30,000] because workers are owed up to R140,000 each for the deductions. We have tried to negotiate for a better amount than the R30,000 being offered without success. That is why we decided to down tools.” While waiting for the CCMA to set a date to hear the matter, more than 200 workers at Simba’s Isando factory workers refused to work on Wednesday morning.
- Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Kimberly Mutandiro at GroundUp
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