BTU to realign structure with constitution

Chakalisa Dube | Thursday March 17, 2016 15:06

The union’s new structure came into effect in July 2013.  BTU publicity secretary Tidimalo Maeletso said that the union has realised that some of its positions in the structure are not fully catered for in the constitution, something that may cause conflict in future.

“More than a year ago we re-structured the union and scraped some positions. The National Executive Committte (NEC) was reduced from 32 to 12 but we did not adequately change the constitution to cater for the new structure. Even some regional positions were scraped off but the changes were not aligned to the constitution,” Maeletso told Mmegi yesterday.

“No one has ever complained that the constitution is not aligned with the new structure but as the leadership and some members of the union, we felt there is need to realign the structure with the constitution. The decision was taken in order to avoid confusion in future.”

Maeletso added that the constitution amendment will not only be limited to the realignment of the constitution to the new structure. “We will also review the whole constitution and see where it can be revamped,” he said.

Early in 2013, the BTU was forced to postpone its third elective congress due to constitutional challenges. Then members said that the union’s amended constitution had not been fully endorsed. The members also argued that the new constitution had new posts, which they were not familiarised with before the elections.

Maeletso added that they would also host a governing council to discuss the status of the union.  He also said that there would be an extra ordinary congress to discuss the general status of the union. Among the most important things to be discussed is the branding of the union. 

“There is greater perception that we are not that visible and we are in the process of re-branding the union as well as raising awareness about its products and services. That is why the branding issue is expected to feature prominently at the special congress,” Maeletso said.

“We will over the weekend have a road show in Gantsi in a bid to drum up support to improve awareness about the BTU brand.”