Some workers down tools at Rosedale
Alida de Beer
Agroup of disgruntled construction workers on the Rosedale housing project building site temporarily downed tools on Monday and Tuesday. Building work did not come to a complete standstill, though, as a number of other workers kept on working.
The dissatisfied group complained about wages and new contracts they had to sign, and wanted to have clarity on which different companies operate on site.
Speaking on behalf of the workers, Portia Tsoloane said they do not know who they are working for and their wages were changed from an hourly rate to payment for stages of work completed. They were also concerned about some allegedly illegal workers from Zimbabwe and complained about a site foreman that had sworn at a worker. A worker was also injured on Saturday but was only taken to the doctor on Tuesday.
Randall Booysen, the main site agent, confirmed that the workers had to sign contracts again, but it was to renew their previous contracts. He said that workers are registered on the municipality's database as EPWP workers and they are remunerated accordingly.
"They are in fact receiving a little more than the prescribed wage. We have amended the payment method from hourly pay to payment for stages of work completed for the sake of logistics as this is the way that we as contractors are being paid. This is also an incentive to workers. The faster they work, the more money they can earn. They are paid fortnightly after the first three weeks of the project's kick-off. The workers were unhappy about the first week's back pay, but this has been addressed."
He confirmed that in addition to Raubex, the main contractor, there are three other companies on site as sub-contractors,
Inyathi, Tsoloane, and Phambili Civils, that does the civil work. "Tsoloane is an SMME and is part of an upliftment scheme of the municipality through which bigger companies can transfer skills and lead them."
Booysen confirmed that there were Zimbabweans who came asking for work, but they were told they could not be employed as they did not have work permits and could not prove that they live in George. "They were trying to force their way onto site by picking up tools and putting on jackets so that they could blend in, but fortunately we have a sharp community liaison officer (CLO) on site who noticed them and they were told to go."
He said the injured worker was floating concrete on Saturday and touched the concrete with his knees, which caused skin burn. "After the weekend, the worker was taken to a doctor for treatment. Disciplinary action was taken up with the foreman for not taking the person to a doctor. I have also instructed all the foremen that no injury should be regarded lightly and should receive immediate attention. They were also told that swearing at workers will not be tolerated and that everyone should be treated with respect."