The City of Johannesburg has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with labour unions, Independent Municipal and Allied Trade Union (IMATU) and the South African Municipal Workers Union (SAMWU) on 19 August following months of behind the scenes deliberations.
The MoU guarantees stable labour relations between the City and its union stakeholders, including robust, cooperative and stable work processes that’ll allow for the smooth administration of the municipality.
Johannesburg Mayor Herman Mashaba described the deal as the first of its kind in local government history.
“Under this MoU, each of the parties will hold each other to account in a manner that forms a healthy relationship between government and organised labour. The MoU requires the City and organised labour to be accountable for the actions of those they represent and provide the requisite leadership to prevent breakdowns in labour relations,” said Mashaba.
The mayor noted that if any of the parties breached the MoU, enforcement procedures would require binding arbitration with powers to award costs or necessitate disciplinary action against any employee of the City.
The MMC for Corporate and Shared Services Ntombi Khumalo described the MoU as a strong platform from which the City could build a more stable and better-performing administration, whose workforce was more focused on service delivery.
“This is a positive development for the City and all its employees as it’ll help us swiftly address some of the long-pending issues affecting our employees,” said Khumalo.
“We wish to express our sincere appreciation to the labour representatives for their commitment and dedication to addressing the plight of City employees. We would like to reiterate our commitment to engaging honestly, openly and robustly with labour on the processes the City is initiating to improve service delivery.”
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