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BHUNYA – Montigny Investments employees urged the Minister of Labour and Social Secutiry, Phila Buthelezi, to persuade the management to consider skilled emaSwati for senior positions in the company.
The employees said it was sometimes hard to work with people who were not from the country, if such people were clueless.
“Could they consider more locals for senior positions, more especially if there are emaSwati who have the essential qualifications,” said another employee.
The minister was visiting the company to familiarise himself with its labour environment last Thursday.
The minister was accompanied by senior officers of the ministry who included Labour Commissioner Mthunzi Shabangu and Principal Secretary Makhosini Mndawe.
Employees
During the visit, he met with the management of the company in Bhunya as well as some of the employees. The company has over 13 500 employees of which 975 are employed directly; while over 12 000 are employed by contractors and subcontractors.
Buthelezi first engaged with employees who were directly employed by the company. During the engagement, the minister assured them that they should not be afraid to voice out issues and challenges that they wanted his ministry or any government stakeholder to resolve.
The minister stated that even if they felt that they wanted to be alone, without the presence of the media, they should say so. However, the employees did not indicate that they needed a private moment with the minister.
The employees who, among them were Sizwe and Ciniso Tsabedze, told the minister that they were happy to be at Montigny. Buthelezi then tried to establish if the employees were affiliated to any trade union and they told him that they were under the Montigny Investment Staff Association (MISA).
The employees told the minister that his visit caught them off-guard, therefore they were not able to convey some of the concerns because they had not met with other employees to gather their contributions.
The representatives of the employees told the minister that even though that was the case, they were happy at the company. They assured the minister that if, or whenever they had issues he would be the first to know.
Another employee went on to state that whenever there were work related concerns, such were resolved amicably internally.
One of the concerns raised was on the senior managerial positions.
The minister also went to meet general labourers who were cutting trees in one of the company’s many forests at Mhlambanyatsi. The minister met with the employees and urged them to voice out issues they had with the company.
Youwon’t getfired “If you are not happy with salaries; forced to leave trade unions or do not have uniforms please say it.
BHUNYA - While government is still debating whether men should be entitled to paternity leave, some companies’ employees already enjoy those benefits.
The employees told Minister of Labour and Social Security Phila Buthelezi that men in the company were entitled to up to eight days paternity leave. They explained that out of the eight days, three of them were paid in full, while the other five were unpaid.
“You are way ahead of us now,” Buthelezi said.
The minister said he was pleased to learn that there were companies that had paternity leave while at government level the matter was still being debated.
for talking to me,” he said. Despite the assurance by the legislator, the employees told the minister that they were happy to be at Montigny Investments Limited.
The labourers told the minister that working at Montigny forests was much better than working in the textile and retail industry. To begin with, they noted that the salaries were much better at the company. They added that on top of earning better salaries, they did not have to pay for transportation
“‘We donot s’pen‘dontransport,’ho’using to work, and that the company availed housing and free food for them. the company’s CEO to also meet representatives of all the employees who were at the company.
However, the CEO, Andrew LeRoux, told the minister that he was not going to meet all the contractors and the employees. He told the minister that one of the contractors and employees he was not going to engage with were Gundane and Sons employees.
The CEO said the reason he was not going to meet those employees was because the contractors’ head offices were in Nhlangano and they could not make it on time to meet the minister. Throughout the minister’s tour, Gundane and Sons employees were all over the premises carrying out their respective duties.
BHUNYA – Minister of Labour and Social Security Phila Buthelezi left without engaging Gundane and Sons employees.
Worth noting, last year October, Gundane and Sons employees under Montigny engaged in a strike, where they were demanding to be removed from the company and be directly employed by Montigny. The employees alleged that they were violated by their employer whom they viewed as a labour broker.
The employees also wanted more unions to be recognised by the company so that they would have freedom to choose any trade union they wanted to be affiliated under.
On Thursday during the minister’s visit, he asked and food,” said one of the employees who were found at Mhlambayatsi forests.
The employees told the minister that the company and its contractors supplied them with safety clothing. They made this statement after the minister noted that one of the employees was not wearing uniform.
The minister then told the employees that he was glad to learn that the employees were happy with their working conditions, treatment and the salaries they were getting from the company. He then told them that whenever they felt there were issues that needed to be addressed, his door was open. He said he was cognisant of the fact that some of the employees felt they were caught off-guard.
The minister also met with some of the contractors who lauded the company for supporting them. The contractors stated that some of them were groomed by Montigny, which is something that other companies wouldn’t do. However, they voiced out that there were instances where they felt that the company’s management overstepped boundaries and interfered with their operations. One of the contractors mentioned that there were instances where the company’s senior management would meet with their employees, which they felt was overstepping of boundaries.
The minister told them about the Employment Bill that was still with Cabinet, and would soon be debated in Parliament.
“Please make contribution to that Bill. Each and every one of you should mobilise their Member of Parliament (MP) to ensure that the Bill is passed because it will make your lives better,” he said.