The members argue that the employer cannot take orders from BLLAHWU to continue deducting their money, despite the fact that the union’s constitution calls for three months notice before leaving the union. The issue arose after some members tendered resignation letters to BLLAHWU and ordered the employer and DPSM to stop monthly subscription fee to the said union.
The disgruntled members wrote a letter dated August 5 2016, through their attorney Uyapo Ndadi stating: “declaring that the respondents (DPSM) by continuing to withhold BLLAHWU member subscription fees, after being instructed by the individual employees to stop deductions, are violating the Employment Act.” The letter further instructed DPSM to reimburse the claimants all monies unlawfully withheld by them. The contention of the members is that they had tendered their resignations from BLLAHWU membership and have written to DPSM and the union but the deductions have not been stopped. “It appears the employer is not stopping the deductions because of BLLAHWU insisting that the employees have to serve a three months notice before resigning. It is submitted that however, this is not for the employer to get involved in. BLLAHWU if aggrieved by its members’ failure (refusal) to pay, has recourse in law to claim subscription fees from its members,” it says. The letter says BLLAHWU has no right in law to dictate to the employer to hold individual employee subscriptions, particularly against the concerned employees’ instructions. On the other hand, BLLAHWU secretary general Ketlhalefile Motshegwa has wrote to DPSM, on July 14 saying: “We have noted that some payments points at councils and land boards engage in the act of unlawfully stopping deductions for member’s subscription to the union and such amount to meddling in the affairs for it is the secretary general who authorises joining of membership and termination of membership.” Motshegwa said the procedure is that any member wishing to terminate membership from the union must make a three months notice to the union secretary general, who shall after necessary process inform the payments points to stop deductions. “You attention is brought to section 11.4 of the constitution of the union which state that a member who wishes to resign from union shall give 90 calendar days written notice to the central executive committee (CEC) and shall pay arrears on subscription and other debts due to the union,” the letter states. He said if acts of this nature further continue the union would be forced to invoke necessary measures to thwart off any interference with its processes. Some members of BLLAHWU who resigned from it recently registered a union called Botswana Progressive Workers Union. Its interim president Motelebane Motelebane told the media on Wednesday that their members who have resigned from BLLAHWU would not be held at ransom by being forced to serve three months notice before they are free. However the GCC town clerk Mpho Mathe said the unions have an agreement with the employer not the councils. “To the best of my knowledge, a member should not be forced to subscribe to a union if he/she has resigned from it. When I became a manager in council, I had to resign from the union and my subscription fee was stopped that month,” Mathe said.
