A protected strike is SABC staff’s ‘only defence’ as layoffs loom, says Bemawu
'We were quite sad to receive a letter a few days ago where the SABC basically said, employees do not have any right in terms of the extended consultation process.
Staffers at the SABC outside the public broadcaster’s headquarters in Auckland Park on 16 November 2020. Picture: Tracy Lee Stark
Following the 2020 retrenchment saga at the South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC), consultations with the employees and their representatives have come to a halt.
In an interview with eNCA, Hannes du Buisson said SABC employees only had a protected strike as their defence since the SABC refused to give them an extension on the consultation process.
“We were quite sad to receive a letter a few days ago where the SABC basically said ’employees do not have any right in terms of the extended consultation process’.
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“We wrote a letter to the board to ask for a seven-day extension to consult with the SABC employees as this process happened in the Christmas and New Year period and a lot of them were on leave,” said Du Buisson.
Du Buisson said that the SABC announced that there would not be any further consultations with the employees and their representatives, and also denied them an opportunity to meet and give feedback on the final structure as indicated by the independent labour arbiter.
Compiled by Reitumetse Makwea
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