3 November 2014

 

The National Employer’s Association of South Africa (NEASA) is set to return to the Labour Court in Johannesburg tomorrow, 4 November, to continue its fight to prevent the Metal and Engineering Industry Bargaining Council (MEIBC) from approaching the Minister of Labour with a request to extend the 2014 settlement agreement to non-parties.

 

Following a Management Committee meeting on 17 September 2014, the MEIBC unlawfully requested Minister Mildred Oliphant to extend the July 2014 settlement agreement, between Seifsa and trade unions, to employers who are not signatories to that agreement.

 

This resulted in NEASA approaching the Labour Court for urgent interdictory relief on 25 September 2014. The Labour Court interdicted the MEIBC and its General Secretary from submitting a request to the Minister of Labour to extend the said agreement to non-parties.

 

The MEIBC and its General Secretary were represented in the Labour Court by their attorneys and council on that day (25 September 2014).

 

Although it was not disclosed to the Court or NEASA, the MEIBC and its General Secretary, Mr Thulani Mthiyane, with full knowledge of the proceedings taking place at Court, proceeded to surreptitiously submit the request for the extension of the Seifsa/trade union agreement to the Minister on 25 September 2014.

 

‘This illustrates a complete lack of bona fides on the part of the MEIBC and its General Secretary in their dealings with the Labour Court and NEASA,’ says Gerhard Papenfus, NEASA Chief Executive.

 

On 8 October 2014, at a Special Management Committee of the MEIBC, another decision was taken to request the Minister to extend the July ’14 agreement between Seifsa and the trade unions to non-parties.

 

Since this second imminent extension request suffers from precisely the same defects as the 25 September 2014 request, NEASA, on 23 October 2014, filed a further application to interdict, also on an urgent basis, the MEIBC and its General Secretary from submitting a second request to the Minister of Labour.

 

This second urgent application, together with the first urgent application, will be argued in the Labour Court on 4 November 2014.

 

For more information:

Sya van der Walt-Potgieter

Media Liaison