PASDEC employees down tools again

Tumelo Mouwane | Tuesday June 6, 2017 17:09

On Thursday, the employees committee chairperson, Kabelo Phuthego together with one Simon were sent packing after they held a mass meeting with the rest of the employees, an act the company’s administration did not condone.

In an interview, Phuthego said the company’s CEO decided to reinstate them yesterday but vowed that the strike will continue until a ‘satisfactory solution’ to their concerns is put in action.

“The latest strike started on Thursday after I was dismissed from work together with my colleague called Simon. We were dismissed for holding a meeting with the staff. They said we should not have held the meeting during working hours but our meeting took place at lunchtime.

“The company’s CEO invited us to Johannesburg to discuss the issue but I declined. He however reinstated us today (Monday) but this time around we are not going to go back to work unless a ‘satisfactory solution is not just availed but put into action,” Phuthego said.

It is the third time the employees at the harness manufacturing plant went on strike since February this year.

They demand better working conditions. In the last six-day strike in March, the town leadership and other stakeholders facilitated a settlement between the two parties.

According to Phuthego, employees’ welfare at the plant is ‘not taken seriously’ to an extent that some work in hazardous environments without protective clothing.

“We have long been promised that these issues will be addressed and to this point, nothing is happening. Some of the workers work in a hazardous environment but they don’t have protective clothing.

“Our major concern is also about low payments. The company tabled salary adjustments to settle the last strike but no action was taken in order to effect the salary increase. We work nine hours 30 minutes but they have not paid us our 30 minutes overtime and we want the back pays. We cannot stand to be exploited,” he said.

The company’s publicity officer, Mike Mortimer could not be reached for comment since his phone’s could not go through at the time of going to press yesterday.

However, the district commissioner, Kolobetso Sejakgomo said her office has made efforts to facilitate negotiations between the two parties to reach an amicable solution.

She said they have advised them against rushing to down tools and instead to negotiate whilst working. She added that the company has not fully settled in Botswana, hence still facing challenges.

“We went to address the administration on human resource issues last Thursday but the environment was calm and the employees did not raise any complaints. My office is not aware of the latest strike,” she said.