Insolvent Samwu demands nearly R30m from City of Joburg

The cash-strapped SA Municipal Workers' Union (Samwu) is gunning for R29m it accuses the City of Johannesburg of withholding illegally, saying it is against the Labour Relations Act.

An affiliate of trade union federation Cosatu and a key ally of the ANC, Samwu declared insolvency six months ago, stating that it had been struggling to pay staff salaries since August 2018.

The current Samwu national leadership under general secretary Koena Ramotlou accused the previous leaders, who were booted out from the union through a motion of no confidence in April, of presiding over the disappearance of R160m from Samwu coffers.

On Thursday, the Samwu leadership and its members marched to the City of Johannesburg chambers, where they delivered a memorandum of grievances to the metro led by DA mayor Herman Mashaba.

The city has the biggest budget of all the metros in SA with R64.5bn allocated for the 2019/2020 financial year.

Among other grievances, Samwu accused the city of unilaterally stopping depositing subscription funds — equating to R29m — from members to the union.

The union has been rocked by a leadership dispute in the region that saw one of the factions signing a historic pact with Mashaba and the Independent Municipal and Allied Trade Union (Imatu) in August, aimed at promoting harmonious labour relations between the stakeholders and advancing service delivery in the metro.

But high on the agenda was the issue of the R29m. “We are here to say to the city they must pay up the money that they have been keeping illegally. It is against the Labour Relations Act, they know it,” Ramotlou said.

“It must come to an end that they must interfere with the business of the union. They have done this act of keeping the money here to collapse [and] weaken Samwu, so that Samwu cannot be united.”

Ramotlou said Samwu was capable of managing its affairs and did not need the metro's help to do so.

Regarding the memorandum of understanding signed by a faction of Samwu, Imatu and the city in August, Ramotlou said the members were never consulted on it.

The pact grants unions access to the city’s intricate budget-planning processes. Access to the city coffers could strengthen the unions’ hand in wage negotiations as they would know how much the metro could afford in pay hikes. Involving the workers at the budgeting process could also help to reduce industrial action, which has sometimes turned violent.

However, Ramotlou said the pact was not pact of Samwu. “Samwu did not sign it, those who signed it, it was their agreement [reached] in a corner,” he said to loud applause, adding that the pact overreached on bargaining council arrangements.

“In Samwu, before we sign any agreement we canvass a mandate from workers. Samwu is a worker-controlled union, members have the last say as to what must happen to their issues.”

The pact will not be entertained and could not be used by the city against Samwu during bargaining processes, said Ramotlou. “Those who signed it must see how they are going to explain [that] to their handlers.”

City of Joburg COO Floyd Brink, who received Samwu's memorandum, said the city would respond to issues raised by the union. “We acknowledge the memorandum and we will respond accordingly.”

mkentanel@businesslive.co.za