Today's Labour News
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.
Dawn to lay off over 700 employees to reduce costs
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BusinessLive reports that Distribution and Warehousing Network (Dawn) is to retrench more than 700 of its employees as part of a cost-cutting strategy aimed at saving the ailing business from collapse.
Afternoon roundup of labour news on Tuesday, 28 August 2018
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In our afternoon roundup, see summaries
of our selection of South African labour-
related stories that appeared thus far on
Tuesday, 28 August 2018.
Joburg EMS and JMPD female staff march on Tuesday calling for equal rights
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EWN reports that women employed by Johannesburg Emergency Management Services (EMS) and the Johannesburg Metro Police Department (JMPD) marched to the JMPD headquarters in Martindale on Tuesday to hand over a memorandum to management demanding equal rights in the workplace.
Sadtu says teaching in mother tongue will boost education
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Timeslive reports that the SA Democratic Teachers’ Union (Sadtu) wants better funding and development of teaching in mother tongue languages at schools to improve education in the country.
Eskom official blames load shedding on 'worst industrial action in his 28 years'
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Fin24 reports that top Eskom executives told MPs in Parliament on Tuesday that the worst industrial action in 28 years directly contributed to the power utility having to implement load shedding in mid-June.
Transport union Untu goes to CCMA to get disclosure of Gautrain financials
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GroundUp reports that last week the United National Transport Union (Untu), joined by the Federation of Unions of SA (Fedusa), lodged two CCMA disputes against Bombela, the Gautrain’s operating company, for alleged unfair labour practices.
Solidarity gives notice of strike at Sasol over black staff share ownership scheme
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Reuters reports that Solidarity has given Sasol a 48-hour notice to strike over the petrochemical giant’s plan to launch a share ownership scheme exclusively for black staff, the trade union said on Tuesday.
ConCourt ruling on organisational rights of minority unions ‘will fuel chaos’
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BusinessLive reports that a Constitutional Court (ConCourt) ruling that has reinforced the organisational rights of minority trade unions in the workplace was problematic and would lead to chaos and heightened inter-union rivalry according to some labour experts.
Short strike at Chris Hani Baragwanath Hospital ends
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BusinessLive reports that the Gauteng Department of Health (DoH) announced that a strike by general workers at the Chris Hani Baragwanath Hospital in Soweto was over.
NSFAS boss Steven Zwane suspended for maladministration
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BusinessLive reports that the National Student Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS) suspended its executive officer Steven Zwane with immediate effect on Monday evening.
Health hazard as Pikitup pulls out of Soweto due to attacks on its workers
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The Star reports that a health hazard is looming in Soweto after Pikitup stopped its refuse-collection services in protest against the growing number of attacks on its workers in the township.
Transport union Untu warns that Prasa disasters ‘bound to happen’
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Business Report writes that the United National Transport Union (Untu) has branded the embattled Passenger Rail Agency of SA (Prasa) trains as a disaster waiting to happen and has accused the government of ignoring red flags.
eThekwini metro police department 'grossly understaffed'
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The Mercury reports that the eThekwini Metro Police is grossly understaffed, having recruited less than an average of 100 officers per year for the past eight years.
Evictions of farmworkers in Western Cape at a 'tipping point', says ANC
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Cape Times reports that the eviction of poor farmworkers in the Western Cape has reached a tipping point, the ANC has said, following three families having been evicted from the Simondium Guest Lodge in Franschhoek at the weekend.
Deadline on Tuesday for submissions on draft bill to curb fake qualifications
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ANA reports that members of the public have until the close of business on Tuesday to submit their views on a draft bill seeking to root out fake qualifications and impose stricter penalties on people lying about their academic qualifications.
Numsa to meet KZN plastics manufacturer over prolonged workers' strike
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ANA reports that the National Union of Metalworkers of SA (Numsa) in KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) said on Monday it would be meeting with the management of ITB Plastics and Isithebe Consulting Solutions (ICS) in a bid to resolve a four-week old strike.
Ex-unionist in court over sexual harassment claims
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SowetanLive reports that the former secretary of a leading public sector union has appeared in court to face charges of sexual assault and harassment after he allegedly made inappropriate advances on a female subordinate.
Telkom warns of job cuts should ‘interconnect fees’ be reduced
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BusinessLive reports that Telkom will meet labour unions to discuss the possibility of job cuts should the network operator fail to persuade regulators to back down on proposed changes to call termination rates.
Unions march to demand removal of corrupt officials, acting CEO at Baragwanath Hospital
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ANA reports that trade unions at the Chris Hani Baragwanath Academic Hospital marched on Monday over alleged corruption, which they said had crippled healthcare services at the hospital.
Man arrested in connection with murders of two KZN police officers
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ANA reports that a 22-year-old man has been arrested in Pinetown, near Durban, in connection with the murder of at least two police officers in KwaZulu-Natal (KZN).
Two suspected illegal diamond miners crushed to death after hole collapses
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News24 reports that two men believed to have been mining illegally were killed in Kleinsee in the Northern Cape on Monday. Northern Cape police spokesperson Captain Sergio Kock said three men "were busy with mining" when the hole they were in collapsed on them.
Protest action severely inhibits Pikitup services in certain areas in Joburg
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The Citizen reports that according to a statement released by Pikitup on Monday morning, waste collection services in certain areas in Johannesburg would be adversely affected due to mounting protest action.
Cape Town firefighters to get increased protection after attack on 14 crew members
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News24 reports that plans have been put in place for the protection of firefighters following a violent attack on 14 crew members in Kraaifontein, Cape Town, this past weekend.
Roundup on Monday, 27 August 2018 of weekend labour reports
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In our roundup of weekend news, see
summaries of our selection of South African
labour-related stories that appeared since
Friday, 24 August 2018.
Joburg ends contract with OUTsurance and TFF pointsmen for its own traffic wardens
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News24 reports that the City of Johannesburg has announced that it has decided not to renew a contract which provided privately-sponsored pointsmen at traffic hotspots.
Two police officers killed on Friday in separate incidents in KZN and Gauteng
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News24 reports that police have initiated a the 72-hour Activation Plan to track down the killers of two police officers who were killed in separate incidents in KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) and Gauteng, respectively, on Friday afternoon.
Implats job cuts will have ‘devastating’ impact on Rustenburg mining community
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City Press reports that the looming mass retrenchments at Impala Platinum’s (Implats’) Rustenburg mines are already causing panic among businesses in the local community.
Report shows that 80% of labour broker workers should have been deemed to be permanent
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City Press reports that an astonishing 80% of labour broker workers were on contracts with a duration of more than three months when the contentious “deeming” provision in the Labour Relations Act came into force in 2015.
CWU laments that communication sector workers face losing their jobs due to state capture
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BusinessLive reports that Communication Workers Union (CWU) general secretary Aubrey Tshabalala said on Friday that workers in the communications sector faced widespread retrenchments as a result of state capture
Cosatu furious over exclusion of gender and LGBTQI rights from Traditional Courts Bill
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Saturday Citizen reports that the ANC has come under sharp criticism from its ally the Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu) for excluding all gender and gay and lesbian rights protection clauses from the Traditional Courts Bill.