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BusinessLive reports that in a judgment that affirms the right of workers to join unions, the Labour Court has ordered Goldplat to reinstate five employees it dismissed for being members of the Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union (Amcu).
The court ordered their reinstatement with back pay, citing violations of their rights to freedom of association as enshrined in the Labour Relations Act. The employees were dismissed on 31 August 2016 for joining Amcu and recruiting other employees to the union. The gold recovery company defended its actions by expressing fears of a potential repeat of the Marikana massacre of 16 August 2012 in which 34 striking miners were killed. “According to the respondent’s only witness, management was concerned that the presence of Amcu may result in ‘another Marikana’,” the court noted. Amcu represents nearly 70% of the Goldplat workforce. Though the union holds organisational and collective bargaining rights, no formal recognition agreement has been established yet. During the proceedings, Amcu claimed that its members’ dismissals were “automatically unfair” under section 187(1)(d) of the Act, and breached their rights to freedom of association protected by section 5 of the Act. The Labour Court concurred, finding that the company’s actions were driven by hostility towards Amcu. Judge Reynaud Daniels found the testimonies of the dismissed employees to be credible, consistent and corroborated by each other. The judge dismissed Goldplat’s argument that reinstatement would result in retrenchments or impose a compelling operational burden on the company.
- Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Nompilo Goba at BusinessLive
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