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Monday, 21 November 2016 09:41

Business Report writes that the threat of disruption in South Africa’s automotive manufacturing industry by a strike in the retail motor industry, including the automotive component manufacturing sector, has been averted.

Jakkie Olivier, the chief executive of the Retail Motor Industry Organisation (RMI), confirmed on Sunday that an agreement had been signed for the entire industry with the National Union of Metalworkers of SA (Numsa) on Friday.

Olivier said despite all the demands made by Numsa, the agreement signed was effectively a wage deal in terms of which wages would increase by 7% in each year of the three-year agreement.

Numsa’s previous final demand was for a wage increase of 9% in the first year of a three-year agreement, with wage hikes of 8% in each of the following two years.

Mark Roberts of the automotive component manufacturers said wages would increase in that sector by 8.5% in the first year, by 8% in the second year and by 7.5% in the third year of a three-year agreement.

Numsa was not immediately available for comment.

Olivier said the conditions that were part of previous three-year agreements were part of this deal, meaning the industry would have stability for the next three years.

He said the Motor Industry Bargaining Council (Mibco) would submit the agreement to the Minister of Labour to publish in the Government Gazette and extend it to the entire industry.

Olivier said the labour minister had indicated that they needed up to 10 weeks to publish and extend the agreement to the entire industry, which meant it was likely it would become effective early next year.

Roberts said Numsa had always wanted a mega bargaining council, but the RMI was opposed to it.

Roberts and Olivier confirmed that they had agreed to undertake a research process over the three-year period of the agreement to see if there was a way to align the wage negotiation cycles of the automotive manufacturers and the automotive component sector.

Olivier said the wage agreement for the vehicle original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) was effective from 1 July, while the automotive component manufacturers were on a 1 September cycle.

He said if agreement was reached on the alignment of the negotiating cycles, it would prevent the disruptive effect of back-to-back strikes in the automotive industry. In 2013, almost nine weeks of back-to-back strikes resulted in the loss of production of 58,000 vehicles worth about R11.6 billion.

However, Olivier stressed that RMI had not agreed to anything yet but to participate in research to see if it was feasible to align the cycles.

Roberts said automotive component manufacturers could not be faced with a demand for a mega bargaining council each time a new agreement was negotiated but had agreed without any predetermined outcomes to do more comprehensive research on the feasibility of the alignment of the negotiation cycle.

He said if the automotive component manufacturing sector became part of the OEM bargaining forum it would only be a matter of time because the terms and conditions of the agreement reached with the OEMs was forced down on automotive component manufacturers.

“Because of the diversity of the (automotive component manufacturing) industry, we have to decide how to align the bigger one’s without selling out the smaller manufacturers.  For the bigger auto component manufacturers it’s a no brainer but not for the smaller guys.”

Roberts said in general the automotive component manufacturers believed it was also important to try and find a way to shorten the bargaining process.

Based on a report by Roy Cokayne on page 15 of Business Report of 21 November 2016

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Friday, 18 November 2016 14:20

Mail & Guardian writes that the upcoming central executive committee (CEC) meeting of labour federation Cosatu will probably leave its president, S'dumo Dlamini, isolated.  Cracks are beginning to emerge in the faction in the tripartite alliance that remains loyal to President Jacob Zuma, which includes Dlamini, as Cosatu’s major unions find themselves at odds with him.  The unions have openly defied his call to refrain from entering the ANC leadership debate and to mute the criticism of recent government scandals.  

Over the past six months the Cosatu president has become the last line of defence for Zuma's faction.  Asked about Dlamini's perceived reputation for guarding Zuma's interests, the teachers' union Sadtu said it believed it was because he would not pander to populist views.  "You have very strong leaders who are not populist ... people want to see a personality and, when they don’t, they think he is weak," the union's general secretary, Mugwena Maluleke, said.

Dlamini has consistently prevented Cosatu's biggest unions from endorsing Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa as Zuma's successor in the ANC.  He has also refused to join the outcry over the Public Protector's ‘State of Capture’ report.  He would also not be drawn on the scandal over Zuma's Nkandla home when the matter was being argued in court, and called on South Africans to "move on” following the judgment.  This flies in the face of strong criticism of the ANC voiced by Cosatu's unions.

Monday's meeting will see Dlamini pitted against the leaders of these unions, which include the National Education Health and Allied Workers' Union (Nerhawu), the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM), the Communication Workers' Union (CWU), the South African Football Players' Union (Safpu) and the South African State and Allied Workers' Union (Sasawu).

Several Cosatu union leaders are also members of the SA Communist Party, which in recent months has warned against the capture of the ANC's branches by the Zuma faction.

These antithetical views will now be put forward at Cosatu's CEC.  But it does not appear that it will be enough to unseat Dlamini, who has retained his position despite the expulsion of Cosatu's largest affiliate, the National Union of Metalworkers of SA (Numsa), and with even more unions threatening to leave.

This report by Govan Whittles is on page 7 of Mail & Guardian of 18 November 2016

See too, #JZMustFall is breaking ANC, Cosatu, on page 12 of Mail & Guardian of 18 November 2016

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Friday, 11 November 2016 11:11

The New Age reports that labour federation Cosatu is concerned that two of its union affiliates could defect to join a mooted new trade union federation led by its former general secretary, Zwelinzima Vavi.

The National Union of Metalworkers of SA’s (Numsa’s) October 2016 secretariat report suggests that the union (Numsa) is on the brink of persuading the SA Football Players Union (Safpu) and the SA State and Allied Workers’ Union (Sasawu) to join the new federation to be led by Vavi.

Cosatu national spokesperson Sizwe Pamla said the federation had been stunned by reports that Sasawu and Safpu could follow in the footsteps of the Food and Allied Workers Union (Fawu) and thrown in their lot with the Vavi­led federation.

While Sasawu and Safpu are smaller affiliates of Cosatu, their defection could have a psychological impact on Cosatu following the expulsion of Numsa.  This, according to Cosatu, could kill the morale to rebuild unity.

Pamla warned that the unions, when they disaffiliate, would have to provide reasons for their defection.  "The day you disaffiliate, you have to inform us.  They never told us they are leaving," he said.

Sasawu general secretary Manelisi Tyatyantsi confirmed that the union was considering leaving Cosatu.  "At the moment we don't have a concrete position," he said.

According to the Numsa report, a list of 52 unions participated in talks to form a new federation set to rival Cosatu.  Added to the mix, was the inclusion of Solidarity and the Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union (Amcu).  

Numsa was concern though that Amcu could be "developing cold feet".  "Despite our concerns about Amcu not coming-on board at the pace we would have wanted them to, in line with the previous decision, Numsa is renewing its efforts at dialogue with Amcu.  That dialogue must take place nationally and at regional and local level," Numsa said.

Based on a report by Bonolo Selebano on page 4 of The New Age of 11 November 2016

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Tuesday, 08 November 2016 10:56

Sowetan reports that destitute former workers of the ill-fated Aurora Empowerment Systems gold mines have submitted a list of complaints against liquidators of the company to the Master of the High Court in Pretoria.  The more than 5,000 workers, among others, accused the liquidators of failure to honour their promise to pay them after Gold One purchased Pamodzi assets for R70-million and lack of accountability in the handling of funds.

Aurora was co-owned by President Jacob Zuma’s nephew Khulubuse Zuma, former president Nelson Mandela’s grandson Zondwa Mandela, Thulani Ngubane and Solly and Fazel Bhana.

In 2009, Aurora directors took over the mines in the East Rand and Orkney in North West after the previous owners were placed in provisional liquidation.  In June 2015‚ the Pretoria High Court found that the Aurora directors liable for damages that could amount to R1.7-billion after the mines were left to idle and stripped of assets, leaving workers without pay for months.

In May, the Supreme Court of Appeal upheld the lower court conclusion that Zuma and Mandela had acted recklessly and fraudulently when they took over the Pamodzi assets and should be held personally liable for damages.

One of the former workers, Terra Dimane, said they marched to the Master of the High Court in September to demand that chief master Lothian Basson look into the conduct of the liquidators. He said they were yet to be paid for services, provident funds and leave amounting to more than R30 000 each. Dimane said this was despite the R23-million settlement deal Zuma struck with the liquidators.

“Our biggest concern is that some workers are sick, others have died or are stranded in poverty ... Nobody is telling us anything, all we know is from the media,” Dimane said.

In the memorandum handed to the master, the workers also claimed the liquidators stripped the mine of its assets and all the shafts were shut down but there was no accountability for the funds.

The workers’ demands included that they be involved in all processes, be prioritised for payout in the list of creditors, that unemployed former workers be placed in other operational mines, sick workers be attended to and families of the deceased be paid in full.

Mametlwe Sebei, of Lawyers for Human Rights, has intervened on behalf of the workers.  He said the biggest issue was that the mine operated for another seven months after the liquidators took over and pension fund contributions were deducted from salaries, but never paid into the fund.

“I’ve spoken to the liquidators and committed to a meeting [this week].  The other [matter] is the issue of severance packages,” he said.

John Walker, a lawyer representing the liquidators, said they had responded to the complaints in the memorandum as demanded by the chief master of the high court.

“The master convened a meeting a week after the complaints were handed to him.  Everybody attended but the workers decided not to come.  The master then took us through the complaint and demanded that we respond to each complaint, which we did,” he indicated.

• Based on a report by Sipho Mabena on page 2 of Sowetan of 7 November 2016

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Friday, 04 November 2016 09:01

The New Age reports that health practitioners belonging to various unions in the OR Tambo region are threatening to down tools over a crisis caused by a gross shortage of staff and issues relating to study leave.  Nurses belonging to the Democratic Nursing Organisation of SA (Denosa), the Public Servants Association of SA (PSA) and the Health and Other Services Personnel Trade Union of SA (Hospersa) said the Eastern Cape had a gross shortage of nurses to the point that enrolled nurses were taking risks running wards in the absence of registered nurses.  This is said to be seriously disapproved of by the regulations board.

Unions say that nurses are willing to engage with the provincial health department’s superintendent-general (SG), Dr Thobile Mbengashe, before withdrawing their services and want to expose the department for its ignorance and for not appreciating the work that has been done.

Nurses are said to be running the risk of being litigated against where one nurse has to do a job which should be done by three because of the shortage of staff.  They also want the department to provide them with study leave.

“It is the first time under the leadership of the current SG that by November people who are supposed to go to school the following year, have not gone to work in the areas of their desired speciality.  It is under the current SG that enrolled nurses, after being so productive in the department (and) who sacrificed many years getting so little money, this year are told to resign if they want to go to school,” the unions claimed.

Provincial health spokesperson Siyanda Manana said:  "The SG's office has made an appointment with the union leaders to meet and part of the agenda are the issues raised."  The meeting will take place on Thursday in East London.

Based on a report by Indie Boyce on page 23 of The New Age of 4 November 2016

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