Photo by: Creamer Media
The National Union of Mineworkers (Numsa) said on Friday it was shocked and dismayed by the department of labour's (DoL) intention to deregister the Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union (AMCU).
The department said earlier this week it had given notice to cancel AMCU's registration, accusing it of not complying with its own constitution.
"We ... reject – with the contempt it deserves – that a democratic government, instead of working with the unions to overcome whatever challenges that confront AMCU, its first stated intention is to come out guns blazing, making its intention clear that it wants to deregister the union," Numsa national spokesperson Phakamile Hlubi-Majola said.
"Whilst Numsa understands that all unions need to be compliant with the DoL’s requirements, we have had experiences where the DoL should have been expected to act on particular affiliates but, instead, it moves at a snail’s pace. We are not convinced that the DoL has exhausted its options in finding solutions between itself and AMCU."
Numsa said the "no-nonsense" attitude adopted by the labour department against trade unions should also be applied against employers who it said were "union bashers".
"They should adopt the same attitude towards employers who withhold and do not pay workers’ contributions to pensions and provident funds; they should adopt the same attitude towards employers who refuse to pay workers a living wage, and employers who don’t comply with occupational health and safety standards, openly compromising the Occupational Health and Safety Act. The DoL must be consistent in its approach," Hlubi-Majola said.
She said NumsaA had not seen the labour department dealing decisively with such employers, adding: "To be honest, the DoL has been a toothless dog on this front."