Abattoir workers claim victory in settlement

LAWYERS representing 39 Robertson Abattoir workers who alleged they were unfairly dismissed by their employer have claimed victory for their clients after the parties reached a settlement.

The workers, supported by the Commercial Stevedoring and Allied Workers Union (CSAAWU), and their employer had been embroiled in a legal battle for more than five years.

They had charged that they were dismissed when they refused to slaughter 850 animals a day, when their contracts stipulated 600. The demand did not form part of the workers’ contracts and would have required them to spend up to 20 hours a day in the slaughterhouse, CSAAWU claimed.

The union alleged that at the time of their “lockout”, the workers were paid about R100 for working from 7am to 5pm daily.

The farmworkers’ lawyer, Thulani Nkosi, this week told the Cape Times that the dispute had come to an end after the employer agreed to pay their clients a R350 000 lump sum, with no admission of wrongdoing. Each party paid its own costs.

The workers were initially unsuccessful in their unfair dismissal case in the Labour Court. After they took the matter to the Labour Appeal Court, it was referred back to the Labour Court. The Labour Court had held that CSAAWU and the workers had not made out a case of unfair dismissal against Robertson Abattoir as they had failed to prove the precise date of their dismissal in 2015.

It had found that the dismissals happened after the disciplinary inquiries, not when the workers were locked out – and refused CSAAWU’s claim without requiring Robertson Abattoir to lead evidence.

Nkosi said any monetary payment to their clients had to be considered a positive result, and a salutary lesson to all employers in the Western Cape who may be tempted to “cut corners” when it came to fair labour practices.

“It is important to note that the matter began in 2011. By the time it got to court last year, all our clients no longer wanted to go back to work for that employer. They knew going back was not necessarily feasible, taking into account the length of time that had passed.

“We consider the settlement to be a victory for our clients. Although the employer did not admit any wrongdoing, the value of the settlement is of real significance to our clients, all of whom are poor farmworkers in one of the most vulnerable and exploited sections of the South African labour force,” Nkosi said.

Robertson Abattoir declined to comment.