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Drdgold retrenchments unfair: Union
November 18, 2009
Mining company DRDGold's process for the original planned retrenchment of nearly 1300 employees was procedurally unfair, Solidarity said on Wednesday.
The trade union demanded the process which involved workers at the Blyvooruitzicht gold mine near Carletonville, be restarted.
"Solidarity is a stakeholder in the process and was not involved in the consultation process as is legally required," spokesman Jaco Kleynhans said in a statement.
It was responding to DRDGold's remarks earlier on Wednesday that alleged the union was acting in bad faith regarding the matter.
On Tuesday, Solidarity said it had lodged an urgent application for an interdict against DRDGold at the Labour Court to ensure that the Section 189 process -- set out in the Labour Relations Act -- which had been finalised by two other trade unions at the company, be declared null and void.
Several Solidarity members had been affected by the process and had been retrenched.
It said DRDGold maintained Solidarity had been invited to take part in the consultation and claimed it was actually a special consideration to involve the trade union.
"The company's assumption that being involved is a special consideration probably stems from the fact that the company had concluded an agency agreement on a specific job level with one of the two other trade unions -- UASA and the National Union of Mineworkers."
Solidarity said it was not certain if the agreement contained any exclusion regarding retrenchment, but the fact remained that the Section 189 notice had been issued before the agency agreement had been reached with the company.
"This ultimately means that none of the points contained in this agreement can have any bearing on the retrenchment process."
Kleynhans said the legislation clearly stated that even if a trade union represented only a single member affected by possible retrenchments, the employer was obliged to consult with the union in question.
Following repeated calls on the company to be included in the process, Solidarity was eventually only invited after five rounds of negotiation to make a written presentation on the matter.
"Solidarity was not in favour of this and made it clear that the process would have to be started afresh. However, this did not happen," Kleynhans said.
DRDGold had eventually concluded a retrenchment agreement with the two other unions.
The company had until this coming Friday to submit its opposing statement and the trade union said it was hoping for a ruling next week.
According to the trade union, it represented around 115 workers at the Blyvooruitzicht mine. - Sapa
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