Ten construction workers from BopCons Civil and Earth company, who downed tools on 2 December due to alleged outstanding pay, were finally paid in December last year.
On 9 December Last year, Midrand Reporter, Week ending 10 December 2016, published an article, Workers down tools for outstanding pay, about the employees who were working on the construction of the K101 Le Roux Road in Midrand and claimed that BopCons owed them an increment in August, backdated from July. They also alleged that the company was giving them the run-around with their money.
BopCons contract director, Khotso Mokokotlela revealed that the affected employees were paid their back pay during the December payroll. According to him, the labour remuneration rate stated in the contract and priced by the company was R150 per day based on the Expanded Public Works Programme.
“The regional recruitment protocols mandated by the City of Johannesburg were applied by BopCons when recruiting staff for the labour component required in terms of the project scope. These employees were remunerated at R150 per day in terms of the Johannesburg Roads Agency’s contract,” said Mokokotlela, who further said that during the course of the project, the rate of remuneration was increased to R217 per day.
“In terms of the contract, BopCons duly applied to the roads agency for an increase in the labour rate, which adjudicated BopCons’ application in terms of the contract. BopCons then received the agency’s approval of the labour rate increase on 6 December 2016,” he added.
However, one of the employees, Hamilton Phofa said that they did not receive the amount they were hoping for. “We are only happy that we at least managed to receive a sum of what was owed to us and we were able to go home and buy our children clothes and food for the festive holidays,” he said.
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