KIBLER PARK – Officers of the Kibler Park, Turffontein and 26 other fire stations in Johannesburg have returned to their 12-hour shifts as of July 29.
This move was ordered by the Labour Court on July 22, after the City of Johannesburg applied for an urgent interdict to stop the workers from working shifts from 08:00 till 16:00, as per their employment contracts.
A firefighter from Kibler Park Fire Station, who cannot be named, said: “They (the city) applied for an interdict that we should go back to the station and the court granted it, so we went back to our 12-hour shifts, but they still suspended our leader.
”This is nonsense what they are doing! We were not informed there would be suspensions and then we heard from other officers that our leader was suspended. Our advocate told us not to worry about our leader and that we should just take it that he is on leave.”
The unnamed source was referring to the suspension of a member from the Kibler Fire Station, who was suspended together with many others, from various areas.
Firefighters have been fighting against having to serve 48 hours of service while they allegedly received remuneration for only 40 hours, as per their employment contracts.
Since July 21, officers have been working according to the stipulations of their employment contracts, while demanding payment for overtime.
Representative of the firefighters Daniel Motsoeneng said: “The nature of the job requires that we work 48 hours, but we have to be compensated accordingly.
”We want an agreement with the employer that he should pay us for the eight hours he wants us to work, and for it to be covered under the conditions of employment.”
However, the spokesperson for Johannesburg Emergency Management Services, Robert Mulaudzi, said the city condemns the alleged strike and has refused to provide details of the reasons for the suspensions.
Officers at Kibler Fire Station have accused the city of trying to divide and conquer through the scare tactics of the suspensions.
