BONU to confront DPSM over delayed recognition

CHAKALISA DUBE
Staff Writer | Wednesday January 9, 2013 00:00

 

BONU vice president for labour bargaining and negotiations Nsunungile Mooketsi Othusitse revealed this in an interview this week. The BONU applied to the DPSM to be recognised as a union last November. The application was supposed to take 30 days to process.

When the period elapsed the DPSM neither approved BONU's request nor explained the delay in processing the application, Othusitse said. He related that they wrote to the DPSM mid-December seeking an explanation, and they are yet to receive a response.

'As the BONU executive, we plan to approach DPSM before the end of next week to enquire as to why they have delayed processing our application.  We believe we have fulfilled all the conditions required for us to be recognised as a union,' he said.

DPSM director Carter Morupisi responded thus when contacted for comment regarding concerns of BONU yesterday, 'I just returned to work on Monday.  Call me next week.  That is when I will have a definite answer regarding the application of BONU to be recognised as a union.  I will have to enquire from other officials here and give you the finer details'.

The DPSM and BONU have been involved in a bitter tug of war over the latter's application. Mid-last year the DPSM wanted BONU to submit all signatures and names of their 4,000 members to be used to validate if the members belonged to the union.

BONU described the task as financially demanding.  The two parties later agreed that a deduction list from the Ministry of Finance and Development Planning be used. In January last year, BONU applied to be recognised as a union through its lawyers. DPSM dismissed the application demanding that BONU should apply on its own.

BONU then accused the DPSM of pushing the government's agenda to frustrate it and thwart its (BONU) pending role of representing its members 'as a negotiating body'.