The National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa (NUMSA) in KwaZulu-Natal is celebrating a victory at the Labour Appeals Court (LAC) against the Transnet Ports Authority, (TPA) after they unfairly dismissed 17 workers for allegedly participating in an illegal strike. Seventeen of our members were unfairly dismissed by Transnet after the State Owned Enterprise (SOE) claimed that they had participated in an illegal strike on the 24th April 2015.
The matter was heard in the Labour Court which found in favour of Transnet. The Labour Court held that the dismissal of our members was fair. However, we believed the court was incorrect in this finding and we appealed the decision to the LAC. The LAC handed down judgement on Thursday and found that the dismissal of our members was substantively unfair and that they must be immediately reinstated by Transnet.
We welcome the judgement. We were always of the view that our members had been wronged when the management of Transnet wrongly accused them of participating in the strike. The LAC found that the Labour Court erred when it made that finding. It also ordered that Transnet will have to pay our members their salaries retrospectively from the time that they were unfairly dismissed. They will also have to be re-instated at the workplace.
NUMSA is proving once again that it is at the forefront of the struggles of the working class. We have demonstrated consistently that we are a champion for the working class. Our immediate focus will be to ensure that our members are reinstated in line with the court order.
We will continue to unite the working class and fight for better conditions in the workplace.
Aluta continua!
The struggle continues!
Issued by Mbuso Ngubane
NUMSA KwaZulu-Natal Regional secretary
0795023242
Phakamile Hlubi-Majola
NUMSA National Spokesperson
0833767725