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The Citizen reports that Cosatu says the decision by Standard Bank to close 91 of its branches and retrench more than 1,000 employees countrywide has reinforced the trade union federation’s call for the Labour Relations Act to be amended to make it impossible to lay off employees easily.
Last week, Standard Bank said it planned to close offices and retrench about 1,200 staff by the end of June. The move was apparently necessitated by the need to digitalise its commercial and business bank. The fear has been expressed that the decision to close offices and retrench staff could trigger a domino effect, with other banks following suit as banking was shifting to internet and mobile banking thereby rendering some staff redundant. On Sunday, Cosatu’s spokesperson Sizwe Pamla condemned the bank’s decision. “We reiterated our position that we need to amend the Labour Relations Act that allows this to be possible,” Pamla said. The EFF also entered the fray and condemned the Standard Bank’s move, describing it as “misguided and unethical”. “When the EFF takes over government in May, we will place a moratorium on all retrenchments, even by the private sector,” said EFF national spokesperson Mbuyiseni Ndlozi.
- Read more of Eric Naki’s report in The Citizen of 18 March 2019 at SA Labour News
Get other news reports at the SA Labour News home page