Builders World blocks employees from unionizing

Innocent Selatlhwa | Friday February 12, 2016 14:13

According to BWFRWU national organising secretary, Quanch Kewagamang, they registered almost all of the more than 40 employees at the company but the company is refusing to recognise them.

“I wrote to them in October and took the letter to them together with other required documents and requested that we be given a response in 30 days. They did not do so. I kept going to them and the managing director told me they couldn’t help us because they do not have a Human Resources Manager,” he said. Kewagamang said they then resolved to report the matter to the Labour Department and it will be heard on Monday.

Kewagamang said the management is frustrating their effort, as there are a number of complaints they have already received from the members but cannot assist, as they are not recognised. He explained that they are way beyond the required threshold of 33 percent employee membership required and that their union meets the requirements to be duly recognised by employees. He said it was surprising that even though other Builders World stores had recognised them, the Mochudi management was frustrating their effort to represent workers.

According to some employees who spoke to Mmegi, they need to unionise because their working conditions are not favourable. “We have a number of issues as employees which we need the union to assist us with. Our salaries are low it is easy for one to be fired and those not qualified hired. We do not even have a human resource manager or even proper governing structure,” said a concerned employee.

Meanwhile the managing director, Ishmail Chokhandiwla, refuted the allegation that the union ever made any attempts to seek recognition from them. “I have never seen or heard from those people. We only received a letter summoning us to the Labour Department recently,” he said. Chokhandiwla said they do not have any problems with their employees joining a union and denied that they were mistreating them.