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.
GEPF and PIC insist on seats on Steinhoff board in wake of precipitous selloff
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Fin24 reports that the Government Employees Pension Fund (GEPF) and its asset manager, the Public Investment Corporation (PIC), said on Wednesday that they would insist on the appointment of at least two independent non-executive directors on Steinhoff’s board following the retailer’s dramatic share price collapse.
Denel needs R250-million to pay withheld salaries and bonuses
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Business Report writes that Denel executives met on Tuesday with trade unions to discuss what steps will be taken to ensure that workers’ salaries and bonuses are paid.
Jobs outlook for the first three months of 2018
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Business Report writes that the ManpowerGroup Employment Outlook Survey for the first quarter of 2018 was released on Tuesday and showed that chances of finding a job will be highest in the Western Cape, with the Free State province to have the least job opportunities.
At least 106 KZN cops implicated in Ipid report in crimes
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Daily News reports that at least 106 police officers in KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) have been implicated in crimes ranging from culpable homicide and assault with grievous bodily harm, to unlawfully discharging a state firearm and torture.
Consumer inflation slowed for second month in November to 4.6%
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Bloomberg News reports that SA’s consumer inflation rate (CPI) fell for a second straight month in November as food prices climbed at the slowest pace in two years.
Rising unemployment a sign of a 'deeply troubled economy', warns Seifsa
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ANA reports that the Steel and Engineering Industries Federation of Southern Africa (Seifsa) said on Tuesday that SA’s employment statistics showed signs of a "deeply troubled economy" and were a serious cause for concern.
Medical unions warn of court action should there be unplaced interns in 2018
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The Witness reports that medical unions have sent a clear warning to the Department of Health to ensure medical students secure internships and community service posts next year, or face court action.
SABC wage strike may block airing of ANC conference
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TimesLive reports that a work stoppage at the SA Broadcasting Corporation (SABC), scheduled to commence on Thursday, will take place two days before the five-day national elective conference of the African National Congress (ANC) and could affect coverage of the event.
Cop shot dead on Cape Town highway while escorting truck containing perlemoen
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News24 reports that a police officer was murdered along a Cape Town highway, early on Tuesday morning, while escorting a truck containing perlemoen (abalone).
Outlook bleak as SA sheds 31,000 more jobs
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Fin24 reports that employment levels declined again during the third quarter of the year, with an analyst expecting employment to remain flat going forward.
Commuters on Metrorail's Cape Town central line still stranded on Wednesday
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Cape Argus reports that commuters travelling on Cape Town's central line, which runs through Kapteinsklip, Khayelitsha and Bishop Lavis, have had to use alternative transport again on Wednesday.
Steinhoff probe initiated by DTI amid concerns about state employees' pension fund and jobs
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IOL News reports that the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) has directed the Companies and Intellectual Property Commission (CIPC) to launch an investigation into possible non-compliance with the Companies Act by the SA-based global retailer Steinhoff.
Web links to selected labour news reports posted on Tuesday, 12 December 2017
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Our links page provides references to South African labour news reports we have come across on the Internet on Tuesday, 12 December 2017.
Basic Education denies reports that 1,800 teachers to lose jobs, but Solidarity still wants answers
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Pretoria News reports that the Department of Education (DBE) has denied what it said were insinuations by some school principals that 1,800 Gauteng teachers would lose their jobs next year.
Citing “lawyers who loot” in asbestos case, DMR wants state representation on silicosis settlement fund
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GroundUp reports that Deputy Minister of Mineral Resources Godfrey Oliphant told Parliament’s portfolio committee on mines last Friday that private litigation “is a flawed solution to the problem of justice for workers who contract occupational disease” and that he had been “discomfited” by the past experience of the asbestos relief trusts.
VUT loses desertion case against HIV-exposed lecturer as it was aware of his whereabouts
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TimesLive reports that after accidentally being exposed to HIV‚ a lecturer chose to return to his family home to deal with the trauma, but before he could recover he was dismissed by the Vaal University of Technology (VUT).
SA Poultry Association calls for probe into forced labour in Brazil
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Reuters reports that the South African Poultry Association (SAPA) has asked the SA government to seek "urgent comment" after a report indicated that thousands of workers in Brazil's meat and poultry sectors were victims of forced labour and inhumane work conditions.
Midrand strikers may be getting jobs back after dismissals 23 years ago
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Terry Bell writes that nearly 24 years down the line, a number of former Midrand municipal workers who were controversially sacked after a strike in 1994, might be getting their jobs back.
Dismissals through scam liquidations common in engineering sector, claims Numsa
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The Star reports that the practice of companies dismissing employees through alleged fraudulent liquidation scams is playing itself out in a case before the Metal and Engineering Industries Bargaining Council (MEIBC).
Metalworkers’ union Limusa to continue wage strike at Agni Steel SA indefinitely
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ANA reports that the Liberated Metalworkers Union of SA (Limusa) said on Monday that it would proceed indefinitely with its wage strike at Agni Steel SA in Port Elizabeth.
Metrorail services on Cape Town’s central line remain suspended on Tuesday
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EWN reports that train services on Cape Town's central line remained suspended on Tuesday after thousands of commuters were left in the lurch on Monday.
Denel’s cash problems may hit December salaries, trade union Uasa warns
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EWN reports that the United Association of SA (Uasa) has warned that Denel’s cash flow problems might result in more than 4,000 employees not being paid their December salaries.
Silicosis: we’re close to a deal with the mines, says miners’ attorney
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GroundUp reports that a settlement between thousands of ill gold miners and the gold mining industry is possible before the end of the year, according to one of the attorneys for the mineworkers.
State rejects most of the wage review demands made by public sector unions
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BusinessLive reports that the government has rejected most of the wage and conditions of employment demands tabled by public sector labour unions at the Public Service Co-ordinating Bargaining Council (PSCBC).
Unions to go to CCMA to lodge pay dispute against Wits University
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BusinessLive reports that four labour unions representing workers at the University of the Witwatersrand (Wits) are due to approach the Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration (CCMA) this week, to lodge a wage dispute.
‘The criminals have won’, as Cape Town’s busiest Metrorail line is ‘killed’
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TimesLive reports that the Cape Chamber of Commerce and Industry’s (CCCI’s) response to Metrorail's decision to suspend services on the busy central line in Cape Town on Monday was that “the criminals have won."
Unions reject SABC’s new wage offer and threaten to go back on strike on Thursday
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ANA reports that two trade unions at the SA Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) on Monday threatened to resume their strike against a proposed salary increment following another impasse with the employer.
It’s kids versus teachers in classroom wars
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City Press recounts some of the tales of violence in schools that teachers related last week. Pupils slap, stab, threaten and throw chairs at teachers.
Mine safety: how a device small enough to fit in a helmet could save lives
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BusinessLive reports that a small device, with an aerial the size of an adult’s forefinger and a wafer-thin circuit board the width and length of a matchbox, could crack open the problem of finding mine workers lost in underground rockfalls.
Western Cape EMS warns of no-go Red Zones after crew gets robbed in George
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News24 reports that the Western Cape emergency services have warned that staff won’t be able to enter some areas should they be declared Red Zones. This came after a crew was robbed over the weekend and another had to escape community members.