Union challenges BotswanaPost 'divisive' offer

MONKAGEDI GAOTLHOBOGWE
Staff Writer | Friday May 21, 2010 00:00

The BotswanaPost offer, which Mmegi is in possession of, states that outstanding performer will get a 12-percent salary increase, a very good performers a 10-percent increase, and a good performer will get 8 percent, an average performer will get a 6-percent salary increase, while a poor one will get no increment at all.

Enter the Botswana Postal Services Workers Union. The union has discovered something fishy about the BotswanaPost offer: it is for non-unionionised members only.

The union has rushed to the High Court for an urgent application today because it fears the offer is will cause unionised members to abandon it in order to qualify for the windfall.

In the application, the union argues that the company is employing divide-and-rule tactics by dangling a carrot before its members to cause them to leave the union with no membership.

The union wants the High Court to declare the increment null and void and order BotswanaPost to go back to the negotiating table with the union about the increment.

The union is also worried the offer to non-unionised members of staff might hollow because it is tied to a performance-based system that has not been made known to the workers.

According to the application, BotswanaPost wants to implement (a) Performance Management System (PMS) without first considering the recommendations and complaints raised by the union which has argued in previous consultative forums that PMS should be preceded by a review of job profiles, training of supervisors and by addressing lack of resources that may impact negatively on workers' performance.

The union also argues that before PMS can be introduced, there should be a salary review across the board as wages are still very low.

The union also wonders how BotswanaPost can implement the PMS system with immediate effect when the employees have not signed performance contracts.

It says it is surprised because the employer is implementing PMS just when the union thought it was still in the middle of negotiations, which started in February and continued into March.