Nehawu loses challenge to ‘unfair’ bonus

The National Education, Health and Allied Workers’ Union (Nehawu), Cosatu’s largest affiliate, lost its court bid over a one-off bonus being awarded to management in the Northern Cape provincial legislature but not to its members.

Nehawu argued the payment was “unfair”.

The Cape Town labour court on Wednesday ruled the provincial legislature’s speaker, Newrene Klaaste, hadn’t erred in awarding the one-off bonus in 2020.

In December 2019, the speaker and Nehawu signed a wage agreement that provided members with a 40% increase to remuneration and 5% cost-of-living increase.

However, the office of human capital in the legislature later recommended the cost-of-living increase for all workers be implemented retroactively to April 2019. Management, which did not receive any increase or cost-of-living adjustment, would receive a one-off 8% bonus.

Nehawu, the only recognised trade union in the legislature, said the speaker hadn’t acted “fairly” and took the speaker, as the head of the legislature, to the Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration (CCMA).

There, speaking for Nehawu, a worker said several of them hadn’t received the 5% cost-of-living increase. However, it was conceded some workers had also been over-remunerated and to make things equal for all workers they had not received a further increase.

The CCMA, in dismissing allegations of unfairness, said: “Those that were previously in advantage[d] positions and who received a higher salary than their counterparts did not receive any increase at all because they were historically in a better salary position.”

The CCMA also pointed out that “management did not receive an increase at all as there was not enough funds available in the budget”. To compensate for this “the speaker awarded to management an 8% one-off bonus”.

Nehawu said its members were also entitled to an 8% bonus.

After Nehawu’s complaints of unfairness were dismissed it appealed to the labour court, where judge Hilary Rabkin-Naicker on Wednesday dismissed Nehawu’s appeal.

“Given the contents of the wage agreement and the detailed submissions and recommendations made to the speaker,” Rabkin-Naicker wrote, the CCMA’s “decision must be upheld.”

She sad on the evidence before the CCMA and before her, the speaker’s conduct “cannot be considered arbitrary and/or unfair on the evidence at arbitration. I say this despite the myriad of review grounds submitted on behalf of the union and its members”.

Rabkin-Naicker said that none of the grounds for challenging the CCMA’s award offered by Nehawu “stand up to scrutiny”. She did concede that the CCMA’s award “is not the most elegantly written” but it did deal properly with the Nehawu’s claim.

“Given the relationship of the parties,” she concluded, “I will not award costs.”

Nehawu hasn’t indicated whether it would take the matter to the  labour appeal court.

moosat@businesslive.co.za