Bargaining Council registration delays due to union war

CHANDAPIWA BAPUTAKI
Staff Writer | Thursday October 14, 2010 00:00

 

Trainers and Allied Workers Union (TAWU) and the Botswana Government Workers Union (BOGOWU) yesterday submitted to the Commissioner of Labour a notice to convene a last chance mediation meeting following last month's meeting where the commissioner requested the parties to go back to the table and resolve their dispute.

However, information reaching Mmegi indicate that the DPSM requested the two unions to come for a meeting last Friday but was turned down as the unions stated that it was short notice for them. Another meeting was called on Monday where TAWU and BOGOWU walked out when they realised the outstanding issues they were not happy with would not be discussed. The meeting went ahead with discussions on the registration of the PSBC constitution between DPSM and five unions namely; Botswana Teachers Union (BTU), National Amalgamated Local and Central Government and Parastatal Workers Union (NALCGPWU), Botswana Land Boards and Local Authorities Workers Union (BLLAWU), Botswana Public Employees Union (BOPEU) and Botswana Secondary Teachers Union (BOSETU).

TAWU and BOGOWU's bone of contention is with the issue of admission to the council and had declared a dispute, which was mediated last month by an independent mediator Sam Leero.

In their letter of notice TAWU stated that their understanding was that the purpose of the meeting was to continue the discussions on points and objections previously raised concerning the conclusion of the constitution. In the notice prepared by Mosweu and Legal Practice attorneys, TAWU wants an explicit assurance from the commissioner that the registration of the constitution would not proceed before a resolution is reached on the matter.  They further informed the commissioner that should the registration process proceed they would be left with no option but to interdict the whole process for which he has been given three days to respond.

However, when reached for comment DPSM Director Festina Bakwena said that they continued with the Friday meeting in the absence of the two unions as they had acknowledged the receipt of the letter informing them of the meeting and chose not to attend. 'Because they acknowledged the meeting and did not come we went ahead with the discussions on those points of differences with the other five unions. I don't know how they want it to be done. We are talking about seven unions and the employer who have to agree on this one document and right now five of them are in agreement with us,' Bakwena said adding that they have not registered the constitution as yet. 'That process will be informed by the commissioner as we do not hide anything from them,' she said.

The PSBC, which is required to be established by the new Public Service Act as a platform for negotiations has been stalled by the differences between the seven unions. In a recent interview Bakwena had revealed that it has been difficult to get the seven unions under one roof for discussions. The situation was made worse when three of the unions terminated their affiliation with the BFTU to form a new federation.