Union in dispute with the city

A NEWLY formed workers’ union has taken the ethekwini Municipality to the Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration (CCMA) demanding to be granted organisational rights as it has claimed to have recruited more than 7 000 employees.

The Municipal and Allied Trade Union of South Africa (Matusa), which was aligned with the South African Federation for Trade Unions (Saftu) has accused the municipality of unfairness by denying its right to organise and represent workers on labour issues.

The union was initially registered in 2016 but started recruiting employees last year to compete with the South African Municipal Workers Union (Samwu) and the Independent Municipal and Allied Trade Union which represented most of the municipal workers. The matter, which has been ongoing for some time in the CCMA, was heard this week and the union was instructed to verify its members physically.

Municipal employees, mostly from the Durban Solid Waste Unit, gathered at the Kings Park Swimming Pool on Thursday, where the union was conducting

the verification.

The union has been accused of targeting low-grade employees in the municipality, including the contractors under the expanded public works programme (EPWP) promising them “unrealistic” benefits to gain membership.

This, according to the rival unions, has caused protests as workers would demand benefits such as permanent employment and unrealistic salary increases.

Thulani Ngwenya, Matusa deputy secretary-general, dismissed the claims saying their rivals were jealous of their presence. He maintained that they have recruited over 5 000 permanent employees in the ethekwini municipality and over 2 000 EPWP workers but the City would not grant it organisational rights.

Ngwenya said it was untrue that they were targeting low-grade employees from DSW and general workers. “We declared a dispute to the CCMA because the municipality was not granting us rights despite recruiting a sizeable number of employees.

“We have come to a point where we had to physically verify all our members and that is what we are currently busy with as per the CCMA processes. We are the union of all workers in the city, regardless of grade or position. We have senior managers and middle and general workers who have come to be verified.

“We may have the majority from DSW but that does not describe who we are. The employers are scared of Matusa because they know we are going to expose what they have been doing to the employees.

“This is the union that speaks to the needs of the employees and works for them,” he said. Ngwenya said their membership was growing across the province and it was mainly workers who were unhappy with the Samwu and Imatu who were joining them.

Asked what was different with Matusa compared to the existing unions, Ngwenya said “the union was controlled by the workers, no one else” and would fight for their rights. “We have people who have worked for three years on the EPWP programme, why have they not been absorbed permanently?” he said.

Msawakhe Mayisela confirmed that Matusa had lodged a dispute in the CCMA for organisational rights and the matter was still in progress.

However, he maintained that Matusa did not meet the requirements of the Main Collective Agreement of the South African Local Government Bargaining Council (SALGBC) to qualify for organisational rights.

He said in terms of the collective agreement, a trade union seeking such organisational rights must have no less than 15% of the total number of employees within the scope of the council.

“Matusa does not meet this threshold of representativeness. The City in terms of the Municipal Systems Act, is obliged to comply with collective agreements concluded at the SALGBC,” he said.