Our previous circular letter REF: CL.WAGE.NEG.T.010.11, dated 25-08-2022 refers.
In the previous communication we committed to provide more information around the process that must be followed with regards to the mandating and balloting process in the upcoming weeks, in this regard, please take note of the following:-
Section 64 of the Labour Relations Act (LRA) states that
- “Every employee has the right to strike, and every employer has recourse to lock out if –
1(a) the issue in dispute has been referred to a council or to the Commission as required by this Act, and –
- a certificate stating that the dispute remains unresolved has been issued; or
- a period of 30 days, or any extension of that period agreed to between the parties to the dispute, has elapsed since the referral was received by the council or the Commission”
During the 30 days as referred to in 64b(ii), the parties (UNTU, Transnet and SATAWU) may re-engage to try and find an amicable solution to the dispute, such engagement must be initiated by Transnet if they have something more favourable to offer. UNTU has expressed their commitment to engage further with Transnet during the next 30 days to find an amicable settlement that addresses the needs of UNTU Members, Transnet employees and Transnet. However, whether Transnet will come up with a reasonable and just offer remains to be seen and such is dependent on Government’s willingness to assist what used to be the best State-Owned Enterprise (SOE) historically……
During the next couple of weeks, the Branches will be approached for a mandate to either reject or accept the Transnet offer which was presented on the 25th of August 2022. .
At the same time, if the Transnet offer is rejected by the members, a balloting process (secret ballot) must be conducted to determine if the majority of the members are in favour of embarking on a protected industrial action or not. The balloting process will as far as possible be facilitated by the FTUR’s and/or the Executive Council Members responsible for the Operating Divisions / Branches. If the Transnet offer is rejected by the members and if the balloting process is in favour of embarking on protected industrial action, UNTU must provide at least 48 hours’ notice before its members can legally embark on protected industrial action as per the LRA requirement below:
- “Every employee has the right to strike, and every employer has recourse to lock out if-1(b) in the case of a proposed strike, at least 48 hours’ notice of the commencement of the strike, in writing, has been given to the employer…”
We call on all Branches to arrange urgent Branch meetings, during which the mandating process to either accept or reject the Transnet offer must be conducted. If the Transnet offer is rejected, a secret ballot must be conducted on the same day to determine whether the majority of the members accept or reject the Transnet Offer. The releases for the urgent Branch meetings must be communicated to Maria Chonco via email maria@untu.co.za at UNTU Head Office who will compile and provide the release requests to Transnet Management.
In the interim, once the Branch meetings has been concluded and if the offer has been rejected and if a mandate to embark on protected industrial action has been obtained, picketing rules must be negotiated with Transnet Management. Once the picketing rules have been agreed, picketing action will be arranged by the relevant picketing coordinators.
The process that must be followed from now until notice is given to Transnet for protected industrial action are thus in simplistic form, the following:-
- Mandating process will be conducted by the Branches during which the Transnet offer will be accepted or rejected by members
- If Transnet produces a more favourable offer during the next 30 days, a mandating process will again be conducted by the Branches
- If the Transnet offer is rejected by the members during the mandating process, a secret ballot must be conducted to determine whether industrial action must be embarked upon or not.
- The balloting process as referred to in point three must be conducted by the Branch Office Bearers and Branch Officials, TUR’s, FTUR’s and the Executive Council Members responsible for the respective Branches.
- If the Transnet offer is rejected by the members, picketing action will be embarked upon. The time during which picketing will be taking place, will be dependent on the picketing rules that is agreed upon between the parties. These picketing rules must be agreed upon before we can embark on picketing.
- Depending on the secret ballot results, if industrial action is mandated by the members, Untu must provide 48 hours’ notice to Transnet as per the LRA requirement. We foresee this notice to be served on Transnet closer to the end of September 2022 once the balloting process has been completed and if it was mandated to embark on protected industrial action.
Comrades, the time has come…….you have been patient and allowed the process to unfold within the constraints of the LRA…….you have trusted Leadership to bring you to this point……..it is now time to decide whether you are going to fight for what is right and just or whether you are going to continue bearing the brunt of the mismanagement and corruption that has occurred over the last couple of years during the state capture …..
VIVA! VIVA UNTU! VIVA
Esteemed greetings,
C Van Vuuren
GENERAL SECRETARY: UNTU
