LIMUSACONDEMNS UNION BASHING AT FRIGOGLASS

[Dloze Matooane]

01 October 2020

 

LIMUSA CONDEMNS UNION BASHING AT FRIGOGLASS

    

Liberated Metalworkers Union of South Africa (LIMUSA) condemns the union bashing at Frigoglass in Johannesburg by suspending three shopstewards which includes the President of the union cde Peter Mothloki for flavorous reasons. The shopstewards are suspended on allegations of gross insubordination and inciting violence and such allegations are totally rejected by the union.

 

Shopstewards were acting within their duties when they took up grievances of members to Human Resources office in the company and these grievances were related Covid-19 TERS application in which allegations of incorrect information submitted by the company to department of Labour were raised by workers. 

 

Upon suspension the employer continues to flaunt the law by failing to take into consideration the union during consultation and further refusing to allow union official to represent the shopstewards and more importantly the President of union. 

 

The national union had attempted to engage the employer regarding the matter and made proposals on how best to deal with matter in best interests of the company and the union but such attempts thrown with cold water by the company. At the centre is this union bashing is the delinquent HR manager Mr Ryan Haynes whom clearly has no capacity to handle industrial relations issues. We also advised that Mr Haynes has committed to assist the minority union (NUMSA) to regain lost ground in the company.

  

We remain confident that the company has no case against our shopstewards and this is just an attempt to strike fear in our shopstewards and members.  We should defend the rights of the shopstewards to perform their duties and rights of our members to raise their grievances with the employer and no amount of intimidation will deter us from that. 

 

We calling the dismissal of Mr Haynes as the HR manager due to his extreme lack of capacity and his involvement in trade union rival politics. 

 

We also shocked to learn that on the other dispute we had referred to the Council regarding unilateral changes in condition of employment the employer produced an agreement at national level in the engineering sector with NUMSA that there will no increase for year 2020/21, while on the other hand the employers continue to benefit out of the agreement by subjecting workers to lay-offs and short-times.  

 

While we understand the impact of Covid-19 but we reject that no wage agreement because workers’ wages are under serious pressure due increasing costs of living.  We call on metalworkers to refuse the use of Covid-19 as means to maximize profits by the bosses at the expense of the workers. 

 

End

 

Issued by LIMUSA Secretariat

For further details contact:-

Siboniso Mdletshe (General Secretary) 

Cell     : 081 348 0439/072 386 4932

                Or

Mpho Hlongwane (Gauteng Provincial Secretary)   

Cell: 081 232 5737 /072 891 8913