The day BOFEPUSU, BOPEU met in Court

Tuesday this week shall remain engraved in the minds of many trade unionists that had thronged the Courtroom of Justice Bengbame Sechele in Francistown where former partner trade unionists clashed on a principle of law. For Francistowners, the case of this magnitude was perhaps the first of its kind and it was worth attending. The Botswana Public Employees Union (BOPEU) and its former partner Botswana Federation of Public Private Parastatals Sector Unions (BOFEPUSU) were at loggerheads with BOPEU, having applied to the High Court seeking to disqualify BOFEPUSU from the membership of the Public Sector Bargaining Council (PBSC).

The matter was taken to Court Monday this week on a motion of urgency. It is apparent that the urgency of the matter was precipitated by a recent case in which BOFEPUSU won, compelling the Government to suspend the three percent salary increase award for the 2016/2017 financial year. Tuesday morning, afternoon and evening, Justice Sechele’s Courtroom No.3 was the cynosure of all eyes. It was the day public sector trade Unions literally clashed in Court.