Labour
Some light amid the labour gloom
News on the labour front over the recent past — and the past week — has involved ongoing infighting, death threats, an assassination, and the petrol bombing of a union president’s house. Little wonder then that an important labour law development has gone largely unnoticed.
Terry Bell
Opinion | 20 April 2015
South Africa’s questionable silence about human rights violations in Swaziland
The International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC), campaigning groups and labour supporting members of the European parliament this month launched protests about the continued harassment and jailing of trade unionists and democracy campaigners in Swaziland. ITUC general secretary Sharan Burrow has noted that, in Swaziland, “Violations against the fundamental rights of workers have become systemic.”
Terry Bell
Opinion | 13 April 2015
Workers at Groote Schuur allege illegal pay deductions
A manager at cleaning company Pronto Kleen has been charged with fraud after allegedly inflating employees’ working hours and claiming the extra money for herself.
Tariro Washinyira
News | 8 April 2015
COSATU: the end draws nigh
The fact that Cosatu general secretary Zwelinzima Vavi has refused to accept his dismissal from the federation should have come as no surprise to readers. This column has pointed out for months now that the central executive committee (CEC) of Cosatu has no constitutional authority to finally dismiss, suspend or expel any office bearer or affiliate; that only a national congress may do.
Terry Bell
Opinion | 7 April 2015
Athlone asbestos victim gets his money
Cassiem Mohammed, who worked for 40 years at the Athlone Power Station, has finally been paid compensation for the lung disease he developed from contact with deadly asbestos fibres at work.
Pete Lewis
News | 24 March 2015
Robertson abattoir workers have their day in court
After a four year delay, the hearing in the case of 39 workers dismissed from Robertson Abattoir started in the Cape Town Labour Court this week.
Daneel Knoetze
Brief | 18 March 2015
Domestic workers union wants new minimum wage
On Thursday, a group of about ten women marched to parliament to protest against the delay by government to extend certain basic rights to domestic workers.
Bernard Chiguvare
Brief | 13 March 2015
Nyanga man’s salary slashed to pay for furniture he says he never bought
A Nyanga man has had more than R1,000 deducted from his salary every month since September 2013, to pay for furniture which he says he never bought.
Mary-Anne Gontsana
Feature | 12 March 2015
Cosatu and Vavi: the Aurora factor
Infighting, bickering and the pursuit of power and patronage have largely paralysed Cosatu in recent years. That, broadly, is the view of the labour federation’s embattled general secretary, Zwelinzima Vavi and of Jay Naidoo, Cosatu’s first general secretary.
Terry Bell
Opinion | 9 March 2015