COSATU Eastern Cape steps in to halt loss of more than 90 jobs

The Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU) in the Eastern Cape is concerned about the more than 90 workers whose contracts were abruptly terminated by the Water and Sanitation Department in the Mhlontlo Municipality, OR Tambo District Municipality.

The workers’ fixed term contracts were religiously renewed over a number of years before they were brought to an abrupt end on 31 December. The notice of termination sent to the workers states that they were terminated for operational reasons but does not provide any substantiation. Meanwhile, the project they were working on is far from complete.

It has been alleged that the termination of the workers’ contracts was a consequence of a disagreement between the department and the tendering company, and not for operational reasons as stated by the employer.

Unscrupulous employers often abuse fixed term contracts by continuously rolling them over instead of hiring workers permanently, to avoid paying employee benefits such as pension and medical aid.

Section 186(1)(b) of the Labour Relations Act (LRA) clearly defines the dismissal of an employee on fixed term contract, as failure by the employer to renew the contract when the employee has a reasonable expectation of renewal. In this case, having had their contracts renewed over several years, the more than 90 workers had a reasonable expectation of renewal. However, the department’s attempts to attribute the non-renewal of contracts to operational reasons renders this an unfair dismissal.  

COSATU Eastern Cape responded to a request for intervention and roped in officials from its militant Affiliate, the National Education Health and Allied Workers Union (NEHAWU) to engage the municipality to reinstate the workers. COSATU condemns this reprehensible behaviour by the municipality and will not stand-by while workers are relegated to the unemployment line, in a stagnant economy with a 41.9% unemployment rate.          

Issued by COSATU Eastern Cape  

Mkhawuleli Maleki (COSATU Provincial Secretary)
Mobile: 082 339 5482
Email: mkhawuleli@cosatu.org.za