Unions ‘blindsided’ by restructuring plan

TWO of the biggest unions at Transnet have slammed the government for “blindsiding” them following President Cyril Ramaphosa's announcement on Tuesday that Transport National Ports Authority (TNPA) would become an independent subsidiary of Transnet.

The United National Transport Union (Untu) and the South African Transport and Allied Workers' Union (Satawu) said they had been shocked and caught off-guard by Ramaphosa's announcement.

Ramaphosa said that an interim board would be appointed by Department of Public Enterprises (DPE) Minister Pravin Gordhan by June 30 to establish the new independent subsidiary.

Untu general secretary Steve Harris and Satawu's general secretary, Jack Mazibuko, also lashed out at Gordhan for what they termed a misleading statement when he said that the two had welcomed the government's decision to make TNPA an independent subsidiary of Transnet.

Harris and Mazibuko said they did not believe the government's “sudden decision” to implement the National Ports Act of 2005 that had already been gazetted on November 26, 2006, was in the best interest of South Africa, Transnet nor its employees.

They said the government had ignored the unions representing Transnet employees when the act was crafted 15 years ago and then ignored

unions again when politicians decided to implement the act. “Where the government has tried a similar exercise with Transwerk, a former division of Transnet, in 1999, it later resulted in job losses of the affected employees,” Harris said.

He said that he had made several attempts to meet with Gordhan since his appointment as public enterprises minister in 2018 to discuss issues including the implications of the act. Harris said the meeting never materialised. Labour lawyer Michael Bagraim, of Bagraim Attorneys, said that the unions should have been consulted by law, either indicating this move could lead to possible retrenchment or to indicate that workers were being transferred to a new employer.

“Both those sections in the Labour Relations Act force the employer to consult with the trade unions as workers representatives before any decisions are made … the government once again hasn't followed their own laws, ” Bagraim said.

He said that unions could approach the Labour Court for an interdict, or they could refer the matter to the CCMA as an unfair labour practice, or they could say that this was a dispute and state they want to approach the CCMA to go on strike.

“I would also approach the National Economic Development and Labour Council (Nedlac) because you need a body like Nedlac to intervene because this thing will keep getting repeated,” Bagraim said.

Attempts to get comment from the Presidency and DPE were unsuccessful.