BOFEPUSU frustrated by the PSBC secretariat
Goitsemodimo Kaelo | Wednesday September 14, 2016 15:54
The federation’s deputy general secretary Ketlhalefile Motshegwa said in a statement yesterday that they have given the secretariat until Friday, September 16, to convene the bargaining council for salary negotiations and Annual General Assembly.
Failure to do so, said Motshegwa, would leave the federation with no option but to take legal action. He said that the secretariat seems to be determined not to convene the meetings of the bargaining council as there has not been any meetings including those of sub-committees of the council.
Motshegwa said that the actions of the secretariat are tantamount to contempt of court after the Court of Appeal (CoA) on June 16, 2016. The CoA had determined and directed that the bargaining council be convened because BOFEPUSU is legally in the PSBC and should submit its membership list for verification. The court had also ordered that Botswana Public Employees Union (BOPEU) could make an application to the Bargaining Council to be admitted if it has the numbers required and that salary negotiations could continue without BOPEU if the union had not made an application.
Motshegwa stated that BOFEPUSU submitted its numbers in compliance with the order in June 2016.
“It has been three months since the secretariat has been bestowed with the matter despite the matter having been on urgent application.
This continued delay is tantamount to contempt of court orders and it continues to negatively impact on the functionality of the Bargaining Council and the need to expeditiously conclude on the salary negotiations.”
“The need to conclude on salary is critical in the sense that there is need to improve conditions of service and salaries at a time of high cost of living and inflationary burden on the public servants.”
He said that the federation is worried and disturbed by the delay caused by the secretariat and suspects that the PSBC is in cohorts with the Government to cause instability within workers when they act out of desperation that the negotiations are delayed.
Efforts to get a comment from the Bargaining Council secretariat were not successful, as the general secretary demanded questionnaire late in the day.