Samwu slams municipality for threatening to axe workers over illegal strike

THE SA Municipal Workers’ Union has slammed the Rand West local municipality over threats to dismiss more than 700 employees for a protracted illegal strike.

The municipality has been at loggerheads with unions over salary increases which they say the municipality has failed to effect.

The salary increments relate to the categorisation of the municipality to a higher grade after the Westonaria and Randfontein municipalities merged to form the municipality in 2016, which resulted in the increase of pay scales for employees, but the union says top executives effected increments only for themselves.

After almost a month of the unprotected strike, which crippled service delivery, the municipality said it was planning to send letters of dismissal to employees from yesterday.

Samwu general-secretary Koena Ramotlou said the dismissal threat would not succeed.

“There is procedure established in the bargaining council on how disciplinary matters are supposed to be handled. Therefore there is no employee who is going to be dismissed in this municipality,” he said.

The municipality had also obtained a court order against Samwu in which its members were instructed to end the strike and return to work.

“We are complying with that order. Our members will be resuming duty and allowing us space as leadership to continue,” Ramotlou said.

He added that the municipality had agreed last month that a task team would be set up to look at modalities of implementing the increases for workers.

“The municipality has been going back and forth but there was an agreement that was reached between the municipality and Samwu,” Ramotlou said.

The union accused municipal manager Themba Goba of arrogance and of refusing to meet workers to discuss what was being done to address their demands.

Samwu regional secretary Kgosi Breedt said the municipality had been lying to employees, claiming the categorisation was not approved by higher government spheres while it was in 2017 in the form of a letter.

“The municipality decided to hide this letter,” Breedt said.

Breedt said while the municipality had agreed to adopt the recommendations of the task team, senior executives refused to sign the agreement.

After meeting municipal leaders, including mayor Brenda Mahumi, the union said there had been an agreement to convene a special forum to address the workers’ grievances.