Contrary to expectations, the leaders are complying with the suspension conditions set by BCL management. A number of BMWU Selebi-Phikwe branch leaders have been suspended from work at the BCL mine over leaked confidential documents.
“The BMWU attorney recently advised us not to comply with the conditions of our suspension, especially on the instruction that we should stay under house arrest. Even before the advice of our attorney, we had resolved as the union leadership to act collectively rather than entertain the wish of the BCL mine management to deal with us individually,” said the branch secretary, Kabelo Oitsile.
He asserted that the quartet that had broken ranks - Moffat Ramokate (branch treasurer), Ojahile Jane (branch vice secretary), Mooki Nkala (branch committee member) and Johanna Odirile (national vice secretary) - have betrayed them by returning to work without notice last week.
Oitsile was adamant that their suspension on the accusation that the union leadership unlawfully obtained the salary details of the senior BCL mine management was not true. “Once this matter settles, the focus will turn to these four to explain their actions. It is the general feeling of the membership within the branch that the quartet should be fired from the membership of the union leadership. The workers are bitter about this new development,” Otsile said.
He explained that as union leaders, their actions are based on the legal advice of their attorneys, who are comfortable with the way they have been doing things.
The national chairman of BMWU, Gaebepe Senna has since written to the BCL management notifying them that the reinstated leaders should not represent workers in the branch. “We do not know the circumstances surrounding their choice of going back to work. If indeed, these leaders are being investigated on individualy basis, although they acted collectively as the union leadership, then something is wrong,” he said.
Senna suspected that the BCL mine management could be targeting some individuals within the union leadership. “What the mine management has done is likely to cause unnecessary divisions in the union leadership.”
He has since written to the mine management reminding them not to expect the reinstated union leaders to play any role in union matters until the nine remaining leaders have been reinstated. He agreed that in the absence of the union leadership anything is likely to happen.
“For now, there is nothing that we can say regarding what action could be taken against the quartet. Once the dust settles at the BCL mine issue, we will be able to determine what action will be taken against the union leaders who have since returned to work without our knowledge”.
One of the leaders who returned to work last week Wednesday, Odirile, could not say why he decided to break ranks. “Well, our return should not be misconstrued to mean that we are not part and parcel of the suspended unionists,” he said, adding that they were not given any hearing before their return. He denied accusation that they are sell-outs.
“It would be unfair to us to be given any label since the management stated clearly that it was dealing with us as individuals and not collectively as unionists who negotiated for salaries of staff.”
He indicated that like other unionists, he has high hopes that the union’s case against the BCL mine management would bear fruits.
Meanwhile, the BMWU Selebi-Phikwe branch chairman, Kgosiemang Mogende, said that yesterday, the mine security personnel served him with court papers calling on machine operators at BCL to stop a strike which started on Tuesday. The workers want a new salary structure at the mine to reflect their senior positions. Mogende said that in the papers, the BCL management demand that the workers should show cause why they could not return to work by yesterday. However, he expressed worry at the demand since he has been suspended from duty indefinitely by the same BCL mine management.
Oitsile told Mmegi yesterday afternoon that more workers from other sections of the mine had joined the strike.
BCL mine public relations and communications Superintendent, Mable Bolele confirmed to Mmegi yesterday that the strike was still on despite the fact that the mine management had declared it illegal. “At the moment, we are trying to secure a court interdict preventing the workers from going on with the illegal strike,” she said.
She said the mine management was ready to follow all the necessary legal means to deal with the workers.
