BOPEU takes BURS to court
Over deteriorating labour relations
Botswana Public Employees Union ( BOPEU) has decided to take Botswana Unified Revenue Services ( BURS) to court for deteriorating labour relations.
This was revealed by BOPEU President Masego Mogwera this week. She stated that BOPEU and BURS had a good working relationship that was enviable to most, if not all, Parastatals. However, these good labour relations ended following a change of management at BURS. According to Mogwera, the relationship is now characterised by lack of transparency.
The union leader stated that it should be noted that management is unwilling to disclose Transition documents and the Terms of Reference for consultancy services.
“We are aware of the everdeteriorating labour relations with a number of State enterprises. We are faced with employers who fail to disclose critical information relating to policy issues such as restructuring.
“We were left with no option but to litigate against Botswana Housing Corporation ( BHC), Botswana University of Agriculture & Natural Resources ( BUAN) and Botswana Meat Commission ( BMC).
“As if that was not enough, Botswana Revenue Services ( BURS) has joined the chorus. There is no meaningful consultation on restructuring, and other employment policy related issues,” Mogwera told the media on Wednesday this week in Gaborone.
BOPEU fears that with the secrecy surrounding the restructuring process by the taxman, its members are at risk of losing their jobs. The union wants to know in detail about the terms of reference for the consultant who is undertaking the job. Mogwera indicated that the management of BURS is dealing with them in bad faith. She explained that due to the unhealthy behaviour between the two, the union has decided to approach the court for recourse.
BURS has been accused of planning to lay off some of its employees under the ongoing restructuring process. However, through its Commissioner General Jeanette Makgolo, BURS has denied any plans to dismiss employees. Makgolo revealed in October this year that they will do a skills audit.
According to Makgolo, there will be those who would want to voluntarily exit the employment of BURS. She said if the audit report finds that some employees are not up to scratch, the parastatal will upskill them through various development programmes so that they could meet the demands of the new strategy.
“We cannot say we are going to retrench. Having reshaped our strategy, we have also started work on realigning our organisational resources to ensure we allocate our resources, having the right skills, right competencies at the right level.
“This is to ensure that we deliver on our strategy which is aligned to the core mandate of effective collection of all taxes, facilitation of trade and improving efficiency of the overall BURS,” Commissioner General said at the time, adding that the expectation is to have the realigned organisational structure operational before the end of 2023.