BOPEU Moves To Retain Increases For Its Members
Monkagedi Gaothobogwe | Monday April 10, 2017 14:03
In Gaborone today BOPEU has launched an urgent appeal of Justice Tshepo Motswagole’s decision to stop the salary increment implemented by government last year and this year, as well as challenging the same judge’s decision on the scope of the Public Service Bargaining Council (PSBC).
In Francistown BOPEU is attempting to halt any impending convening of the PSBC with an urgent application that among others wants BOFEPUSU to be suspended from the PSBC for failure to comply with the PSBC constitution requiring members to submit audited membership figures and to pay financial subscriptions.
In this case BOPEU argues that the BOFEPUSU Acting Joint Agreement (AJA) should submit audited membership figures for December 31, 2016, as well as pay its outstanding financial contributions of slightly over P1 million, that they had been failing to pay despite numerous reminders by the PSBC.
BOPEU also wants any meeting of the PSBC to remain on hold pending compliance by the BOFEPUSU AJA.
At the Gaborone High Court, BOPEU seeks to have the ruling that rejected the government’s decision to increase non BOFEPUSU public workers’ salaries suspended while BOPEU appeals that decision at the highest court in the land. BOPEU also challenges Justice Motswagole’s ruling on the scope of the PSBC.
According to their urgent application, BOEPU argues that Justice Motswagole erred in finding that the PSBC covers all public service employees except the disciplined forces and also in finding that salary increment of non BOFEPUSU members are subject to negotiations at the PSBC.
BOPEU also argues that the judge erred in reading, “remuneration & employment benefits” into Section 53 of CAP 26:01. BOEPU also argues that the judge had erred in holding that there cannot be parallel arrangement for the functions of PSBC despite the existence of agreements between the employer and various employees or trade unions that are not members of the PSBC.