THE National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa (NUMSA) will march on Wednesday, April 19th to President Cyril Ramaphosa’s office to protest against security companies who have refused to pay the wages of their workers.
NUMSA intervened when members employed at airports in Kimberley, Upington and Bloemfontein were not paid last month.
A list of 24 security companies operating in the Northern Cape that are not complying with the labour laws, including the non-payment of pensions, medical scheme payments, unemployment insurance fund and tax compliance, will be handed over to the ANC government for investigation.
NUMSA local organiser Mamello Gasa said: ‘Service providers are repeatedly being awarded tenders despite not complying with the regulations.
She indicated that over 1,000 Numsa members, as well as members from the affiliate unions of the South African Federation of Trade Unions (SAFTU), the South African Transport and Allied Workers Union (SATAWU), the National Union of Public Servants and Allied Workers (NUPSA) and the Socialist Revolutionary Workers Party (SRWP), would also participate in the march in Kimberley on April 19.
Gasa added that NUMSA had lodged complaints with the Department of Labour, where a non-compliance notice was served on Venus Security International, which provides security services to the Airports Company South Africa (ACSA).
Gasa added: ‘Workers employed at airports in the Northern Cape, Free State and North West were not paid maternity benefits and had to survive without an income after giving birth.’
There were 200 security workers who received late salary payments in March.
In correspondence with ACSA, NUMSA requested that employees be immediately paid as they were unsuccessful in engaging with the employer for the prompt processing of salaries.
‘Our members have been meticulously rendering services on your premises, yet have to struggle with receiving their wages.
‘This matter causes financial hardships to workers.
‘We request you fully state challenges triggering the continuous non-payments of employees’ salaries from both Acsa and Venus International.
‘Apart from known contractual obligations, both entities ought to be fully aware of what impact this has on employees.’
Gasa stated that the employer had informed them that ACSA owed them R2 million and that they were forced to obtain an overdraft in order to pay salaries in March.
‘We foresee that this will become a regular occurrence where employees are not paid as the contract will come to an end on April 30.’
She added that workers were eventually paid on April 7th.
Gasa concluded: ‘They were supposed to be paid on March 31st, while bonuses are still outstanding. Workers were not supplied with uniforms and had to purchase their own.’
Meanwhile, the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) are demanding a 15 per cent pay rise for workers at the state energy company Eskom.
The NUM said: ‘As a start, NUM will not allow to have any of its conditions of service tempered with in these negotiations.
‘The apartheid wage gap should be finalised as per agreement. Salary increase: 15 per cent Salary increase across the board.’
Solidarity, which mostly represents skilled workers, is also aiming for an above inflation pay rise.
‘Solidarity submit that an across-the-board salary increase of the average Consumer Price Index (CPI) of the 12 months prior to the salary increase, plus an additional three per cent will be fair and just.
‘Solidarity’s mandate is to negotiate a multi-year agreement.
Numsa is the other main union at Eskom and they are also asking for an above inflation pay rise
The services provided by Eskom staff are deemed ‘essential’ and striking at the energy provider is illegal.
However, last year workers there decided to take strike action anyway.
In the end, Eskom settled last year for an across-the-board 7 per cent wage deal.
A repeat of the long strikes are possible again this year, especially if the management’s offer is well short of inflation.
In South Africa there are currently long power cuts every day.
Much of the country has to do without power for at least eight hours every day with some areas have longer.
Part of the backdrop is the ongoing cost of living crisis, with food inflation at 13-year highs of well over 13 per cent and interest rates rising.
South Africa’s working and middle classes are hard-pressed and this is driving wage demands.
But Eskom remains in a precarious financial with the ANC trying to privatise it several times in the decade.
At the same time, a workforce is clearly needed for maintenance to be done and for Eskom to function.
Elsewhere, The Communication Workers Union (CWU) is demanding that it sees clear plans on how the South African Post Office intends to use its latest bailout.
The National Treasury awarded the state-owned entity a 2.4 billion rands cash injection to clear its debt.
The post office had been battling to pay some of its creditors for years and was forced to close branches all over the country.
After recording a daunting financial loss of 2.3 million rands in 2021, its financial situation continued to worsen.
This saw the South African Post Office being placed under provisional liquidation in February after a successful court application by one of its creditors who was owed rent money.
CWU general secretary Aubrey Tshabalala said the postal service must be transparent about how this money will be spent.
Tshabalala said: ‘We want to know how they will settle this debt but, more importantly, how will the bailout assist to turn things around so that the post office becomes a self-financial stable SOE (state-owned entity), that can assist itself going forward to generate its own pocket.’
He said the post office must prove it can manage the financial aid meticulously.
He added: ‘We don’t want to find ourselves being the champions of pushing for bailouts where the money will go to the endless pockets that is falling into the hole that will not be accounted for.’
South Africa’s two biggest mining unions NUMSA and the NUM have both condemned the privateer mining companies Vantage Goldfields Limited (VGL), Barbrook and Mimco and demanded action by the ANC government after four people were killed last Thursday after a conveyor belt collapsed at the Lily gold mine in Barberton Mpumalanga.
The incident occurred at about 11.45am in the morning.
Police and rescue teams in Balfour attended at the scene.
