KDM cost minimising strategies back firing
Municipal workers threatening to strike if parties do not come to an agreement.
KwaDukuza municipality workers, who are part of the South African Municipal Workers Union (SAMWU), are on the verge of going out on strike or opening a case against the municipality at the local government bargaining council.
According to KwaDukuza SAMWU chairperson Bonginkosi Nhaca, the dispute has been caused by KDM management having reduced the days of leave encashment from eight to four days without consulting workers.
Encashment refers to untaken leave days to be paid out to the employee.
He said according to the KDM human resource policy, workers have a maximum of eight days that they are entitled to encash.
“How can they make a decision about a matter that affects us financially without first discussing it with us? Correct procedure requires that they present the idea at a local labour forum meeting before taking it to the council,” said Nhaca.
Nhaca said this issue was one of the four issues they raised when they marched on July 21.
A meeting was held on July 22 and council was given seven working days to deal with the matters.
“They failed to get back to us after seven days. A meeting was scheduled to take place on August 13 but was postponed to Tuesday, August 18. We are still dissatisfied with what has been proposed on the meeting agenda,” said Nhaca.
The agenda states that council has agreed to increase the days of leave encashment from four to six days, but the union is holding out for their eight days otherwise they say they are going ahead with the strike.
Speaker of the KDM council Thulani Khuluse said that the issue of leave encashment is part of cost containment measures and the municipality cannot afford to continue to encash eight days.
“There are some issues where management needs to consult workers first before taking them to council, however this issue is not one of those,” said Khuluse.
He said if the workers are planning to strike they must also take into consideration that the no work no pay rule will apply.
Nhaca said SAMWU are more than prepared to apply for a legal strike no matter what consequences they might face. The union said the municipality should find alternative measures for cost containment.
“They must withdraw the proposal that was done without consultation with the unions,” said Nhaca.
