More dismissal letters on the cards for illegal striking workers
The workers were dismissed for contempt of a court order which declared the strike illegal and unlawful. According to the metro, several attempts were made to get workers to return to work.
The Tshwane metro announced on Monday that it had dismissed a further 38 members of its workforce for participating in the illegal strike.
According to metro spokesperson Selby Bokaba, the workers were dismissed for contempt of a court order which declared the strike illegal and unlawful.
“We have dismissed a total of 38 workers for failing to explain why they were absent from work,” Bokaba said.
“As things stand these numbers could rise as we are daily issuing letters of intention to all those that were absconding from work.”
According to the metro, the dismissed employees disregarded the court interdict and multiple ultimatums issued by the city manager in his effort to plead with them to return to work.
“The city has also issued 89 letters to the electricity switching teams to all the regions over the weekend, except in Region 7, for failure to perform their duties,” the metro said in a statement.
“The electricians claimed that the reason why they failed to execute their duties was due to intimidation by their striking colleagues.”
The members of the South African municipal workers union (Samwu) have been on strike since last week due to the non-payment of salary increases by the city.
Last week Thursday the municipality was ordered by the South African local government bargaining council (SALGBC) to increase its employees’ salaries by 5.4% for the year beginning July 1, within 10 days.
However, the metro managed to get an interim interdict from the labour court declaring the strike unlawful and unprotected.
On Monday, the municipality followed through on its promises that it would dismiss workers who did not return to work.
Meanwhile, the metro said it noted the labour court’s decision not to give it an order which sought to suggest that Samwu was in contempt of court by prolonging its protest.
“Although a contempt of court order was not granted in the city’s favour, the court was scathing of the conduct of Samwu’s leadership, including its failure to take responsibility for what the court has declared to be an unprotected and unlawful strike on July 28.”
The metro added it will consult with its attorneys on how best to respond to the judgment.
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