No political remedy to strike
Two opposition parties tanked this week with stillborn plans to end the ongoing municipal labour disputes, resulting in protracted strikes.
The DA’s Palesa Mobango’s suggestion to involve the CCMA’s head commissioner, Advocate William Thompson, to mediate the stalemate, has been dissed by fellow councillors as a possible doorstop for employees for further abuse.
Her call for an urgent public meeting with councillors, employees, management and mediators in the banquet hall today, has been roundly dismissed by fellow councillors.
On Monday, the MHRF called a meeting, unsupported by the DA, in which they pushed for a Level 5 municipal upgrade and the unconditional dismissal of disciplinary action against 12 main strike instigators, including one of the party’s own executive committee members, Kgosi Makwati.
Cllr Mobango had already engaged with the CCMA, which replied with its willingness to mediate the situation.
The matter has also been urgently referred to SALGA and the bargaining council for implementation of Level 5 salaries for employees, with both saying “no” in very clear terms.
The council has no legal standing to allow municipal upgrades, as the MHRF suggest.
According to MHRF councillor Thato Mathunyane, there’s case law which should be used as a precedent for the council to raise the ire of SALGA and the bargaining council, thereby diluting their powers.
It could open the door for the council to unilaterally push through dodgy resolutions draining the municipal money coffers.
Meanwhile, the municipality has said that additional security contracted in the past two months was duly authorised by the council in a tabled deviation aimed at protecting municipal infrastructure, officials, and the public from violent municipal strikers.
Despite the MHRF and EFF’s refusal to back down, the council has essentially withdrawn from any further negotiations with employees.
