MAIN STORY
Payment scandal at Telkom: Solidarity condemns waste
This many technicians’ salaries could have been paid with squandered money
By Inge Strydom
Trade union Solidarity this week strongly condemned the scandal regarding the compensation paid to members of Telkom’s executive management during the previous financial year. Solidarity believes that Telkom could have paid the salaries of about 80 technicians for a year with the money paid to its suspended former chief financial officer, Jacques Schindehütte.
According to reports, Schindehütte received payment of nearly R19 million in the financial year ended March – that while he had been suspended since the end of 2013 due to “personal misconduct” and did not work since then. In addition, R12,2 million of this was for “fringe and other benefits”. Schindehütte resigned on 8 August 2014.
According to Marius Croucamp, head of Solidarity’s Communications Industry, the average technician employed by Telkom earns about R20000 per month before deductions. Therefore, with the R19 million in unearned compensation paid to Schindehütte, Telkom could have paid the salaries of about 80 technicians for a year.
“Given the massive retrenchment process at Telkom, we are aggrieved that Telkom has squandered so much money that could have been used to keep experts in its employ. At meetings with Telkom we will once again warn the company to get its priorities right and to have its employees’ interests at heart,” Croucamp said.
STORY 1
Gold industry: Chamber concludes negotiations
By Francois Redelinghuys & Inge Strydom
Solidarity welcomes the announcement by the Chamber of Mines that no further bilateral or collective negotiations will take place at this year’s gold negotiations.
On Thursday, 30 July, the Chamber will present its final offer to trade unions. Currently the negotiations are dragging along due to strategic positioning and unproductive negotiation practices.
Solidarity General Secretary Gideon du Plessis said the trade union does not foresee that the Chamber’s final offer will be accepted by organised labour and therefore believes that a strike is a strong possibility. “Solidarity urges the Chamber to present a fair wage offer and to raise the retirement age for all workers to 63. This will enable us to consider the Chamber’s offer favourably,” Du Plessis said.
STORY 2
Report of Commission for Employment Equity again fixates on top management
By Inge Strydom
Trade union Solidarity this week criticised the Commission for Employment Equity’s latest report, saying that like in previous years, it fixates on a tiny part of the South African labour force, namely top management. In addition, the Commission’s analysis of the labour market is again seriously flawed, which shows either an inability or an unwillingness to do a proper analysis.
Paul Joubert, senior economic researcher at Solidarity, said that according to the Commission’s own figures, top managers constitute less than 1% of the workforce included in the report. From a total of more than 7 million employees employed by 24291 employers covered by the report, only 57901 people are at top management level. This means that on average there are only 2,4 top managers per company.
“The Commission does not at all take into account the fact that the majority of businesses only has one or a handful of top managers. It is unusual for a smallish company with little more than 50 employees to have more than one top manager,” Joubert said.
“Many businesses are run as family businesses, or have been established by a specific entrepreneur who is also the only top manager. Apparently, the Commission expects that such an entrepreneur, if he is white, should replace himself with a black person to “correct” the “representation” of this one person at top management level. The alternative would be that nine additional top managers must be appointed, all of them black. For an Indian entrepreneur the situation is even more absurd, as to reach Indian “representivity” of only 2,8% at top management level in his firm, he would have to appoint 35 additional employees at this level,” Joubert said.
Joubert added that although the Commission has a host of data available to do a comprehensive analysis of the labour market, including all relevant factors, the Commission’s analyses remain flawed and one-sided year after year.
In view of the fact that there are 8,7 million unemployed people in South Africa at the moment, the Commission’s focus on the 57901 top managers is totally misplaced,” Joubert added.
Dirk Groenewald, Head of Solidarity’s Centre for Fair Labour Practices, Solidarity has repeatedly pointed out that the racial composition of the economically active population is not an appropriate yardstick to measure “representation”. “The statistics on the economically active population do not take the distribution of skills and qualifications into account. In this year’s report, the Commission acknowledges this fact, but nonetheless continues to prescribe the economically active population as the only measure,” Groenewald said.
Solidarity will study the report released on Thursday by the Department of Labour in more detail and will comment further at a later stage.
STORY 3
Raising of retirement age essential for sustainable mining industry - Solidarity
By Francois Redelinghuys & Inge Strydom
Trade union Solidarity this week requested the Chamber of Mines to agree to the trade union’s demand that the retirement age of underground miners’ should be raised. Solidarity believes that if the retirement age of underground miners is raised to 63, it would promote the sustainability of the South African mining industry as skills crucial to the industry would be retained.
According to Solidarity General Secretary Gideon du Plessis, it is essential for the trade union that the sustainability of the mining industry should take precedence over other issues. “Solidarity is the only trade union that supports the Chamber’s sustainability model. If the Chamber was really sincere about safeguarding the sustainability of the mining industry, it would agree to our demand that the retirement age of underground workers should be raised,” Du Plessis said. The Chamber has already agreed to raise the retirement age of workers above ground to 63.
Solidarity has reduced its wage increase demand to 9% but also indicated that it would not reduce its demand any further until the increased retirement age for underground workers has been finalised.
“It seems that the Chamber is doing its utmost to prevent a raise in the retirement age of underground workers. The Chamber’s feeble argument that legislation on occupational health and safety first has to be investigated holds no water,” Du Plessis said.
“Research conducted by Solidarity’s division for Occupational Health and Safety showed that no legislation existed that would limit or hamper an increase in the retirement age. However, the underlying argument appears to be that a low retirement age for skilled employees would hold an affirmative action benefit for mining houses,” Du Plessis explained.
Du Plessis added that ten mining houses in South Africa, including three gold mining companies, have already raised the retirement age of their employees from 60 to between 62,5 and 65. “It is high time that the Chamber of Mines bring its policy on retirement age in line with this policy and that of thousands of other international mining companies,” Du Plessis said.
This coming Wednesday Solidarity will again engage in bilateral talks with the Chamber of Mines in the gold industry.
STORY 4
Retrenchment crisis: Lonmin can retrench up to 4500 employees
Militant trade unions must learn from this – Solidarity
By Inge Strydom
Lonmin stated in an Article 189 retrenchment notice last week that the company will soon commence with a restructuring process which will involve approximately 4500 employees. According to Lonmin, the reasons for the retrenchment process are the weakened metal price and the consequent closure of its Hossy shaft. The company also plans to put four of its shafts under care and maintenance.
Gideon du Plessis, general secretary of Solidarity, is op the opinion that last year’s unaffordable platinum agreement, which was reached after the five month strike in the industry, contributed largely to the retrenchment process at Lonmin.
“We urge trade unions, who loudly boast their militant and revolutionary ideologies, to learn from this disastrous situation. This planned retrenchment process once again proves that strikes can rob innocent employees of their jobs,” Du Plessis said.
Solidarity will participate in urgent consultation process with the company in the next few weeks to soften the impact of the retrenchments processes on its members and to limit the number of retrenchments to a minimum.
“Solidarity will also insist that the more or less 180 mechanical operators, who have not been working for the past four years because they refuse to go through the compulsory reskilling programme, are considered first in the retrenchment process. These operators are protected by Amcu, who is protected by Lonmin out of fear for violent protest,” Du Plessis explained.
Lonmin is notorious for the violent strike in 2012 at its Marikana mine during which 44 mine workers and innocent people died. Since then, labour relations have not stabilised.
STORY 5
Boeing looks at pricey titanium in bid to stem 787 losses
Boeing Co, which loses about $23 million on every 787 Dreamliner passenger jet that leaves the factory, is trying to stem the losses by cutting the use of one of its signature ingredients: titanium. The strong, lightweight alloy used extensively on the 787 costs seven times more than aluminium, and accounts for about $17-million of the cost of the $260-million plane, according to industry sources.
The push to reduce titanium costs is part of a broader, long-running effort by Boeing to make the 787 profitable that includes pressing suppliers for price cuts and adjusting assembly lines to improve efficiency, said Bob Noble, vice president of Partnering for Success, Boeing's supplier cost-cutting programme.
Boeing's other commercial planes are profitable, and last week, Boeing repeated its pledge to break even on the 787 this year on a cash basis. With titanium making up 15% of the 259 000 pounds an empty 787 weighs, far more than other Boeing jetliners, the material is under special scrutiny, industry experts said.
The world's largest plane manufacturer hasn't disclosed how many billions of dollars it invested to develop the 787, which was introduced in 2011, but it has spent more than $30 billion on production, tooling and one-time costs.
Source:Engineering News
STORY 6
Job hunters, don’t fall victim to recruitment fraud!
By Anja van den Berg
South Africa is still grappling with a massive employment deficit, and jobs are hard to come by. The unemployment rate in South Africa increased to 26.4% in the first quarter of 2015 compared to 24.3% in the fourth quarter of 2014.
Scammers and fraudsters are well aware that there are thousands of desperate job-hunting South Africans out there who will do almost anything to find a job. For this reason many of them target the unemployed with elaborate schemes. It has become extremely important to safeguard yourself against recruitment fraud.
To avoid being job scam victims, job seekers need to investigate the advertised position and the potential employer, keeping the following advice in mind:
How can you identify a scam while looking at job postings?
The title or information is vague.
The position looking to be filled must be prominently displayed. If it doesn’t show what exactly your role will be in this venture or business, be careful.
Mistakes in spelling, grammar and punctuation.
Watch out for spelling, grammar and punctuation mistakes in job ads. It not only indicates a lack of professionalism, but may also be indicative of a scam artist’s potential lack of education.
The contact details seem peculiar.
Be cautious if the same number is published with several different job ads; scammers often use more than one alias without changing their contact details. Additionally, a landline number is preferable to a mobile number: job applicants can verify the contact details of the would-be hiring company on a legitimate corporate website or Yellow Pages.
The company’s website and online profile is suspicious.
Ask for the company’s website URL and social media profiles. Does the URL correspond with the company’s designation and online presence? Are you able to tell in which country the website is based or hosted? Does the URL contain misspelled words or numbers? Does the company have a well-managed presence on social media? If you’ve answered ‘no’ to any of these questions, it’s wise to be cautions. Don’t only visit the website belonging to the company; cast your net wider and do some further online research.
The so-called recruiter requires payment.
At no point ever does a candidate pay a recruitment agency. All recruitment services provided by legitimate agencies to job hunters are free. Some agencies might offer candidates value-added services such as assistance with compiling their CVs or interview training and techniques, and will charge for these accordingly, but they will never ask candidates for money to sign up with them or be listed on their databases.
Be wary of providing photos and personal information.
Some sincere and legitimate companies request a photo of the applicant when submitting a CV for consideration. This could be part of their routine recruitment process and isn’t automatically a reason for concern. Before providing information or photos of any kind, be sure to verify the validity of the company and of the position offered. It’s preferable not to send photographs via the Internet. Don’t disclose your ID, home address or salary until you have run all the necessary checks to confirm the company’s authority. At no point during the recruitment process do you need to reveal any personal banking details.
Avoid falling victim to scammers
How do you avoid being scammed by fraudulent recruitment agencies? Network Recruitment, a specialised staffing company based in Sunninghill, offers the following points of advice:
- Verify that the recruitment agency exists and is authorised to trade in SA by checking the VAT number.
- Verify the phone number in question.
- Research the recruitment agency’s name.
- Familiarise yourself with the genuine recruitment agencies within your niche and industry.
- Consider getting the job description directly from the company’s official website as fraud recruiters may pretend to be from an actual company.
- Do not provide any banking details or financial information.
- Make sure the agencies’ adverts show authenticity and follow due recruitment protocol.
- Under no circumstances will legitimate recruiters ask for a sign-up fee to register you on their database.
- If something is amiss or appears too good to be true, it likely is. Stay vigilant and alert.
It is important to remember that in the context of the job sector, you should only exchange your professional profile and wait for correspondence that indicates a job interview or assessment. Always ask questions and remember: you have made yourself available for potential success; you have the right to inquire about procedures and processes.
AfriForum
Water provision problems improve after court interdict – AfriForum
Water provision problems in the Mookgophong Local Municipality have improved drastically after AfriForum obtained an urgent court interdict to solve these problems. The interdict forces the Municipality to deliver a fair and decent service to residents with regards to water provision.
Phillip van Staden, chairmen of the AfriForum branch in Naboomspruit, says residents were despondent and approached AfriForum to intervene.
“Water shortages occurred regularly – sometimes for seven consecutive days. The reasons are usually related to defects in infrastructure.”
Morné Mostert, Provincial Coordinator for AfriForum in Limpopo, says that water provision problems have improved and that water shortages have declined.
“We want to thank the Municipality, especially the newly appointed Technical Manager, for their cooperation.”
The Municipality, in cooperation with Waterberg District Council, has already started with phase 1 of their project for a new pipeline from the borehole pump station to the reservoir. Phase 1 will be completed by the end of October 2015, where after phase two will commence.
HELPENDE HAND
Helping Hand breaks the age gap with unique project
Solidarity Helping Hand brought together grandmothers and grandfathers with love to share and needy toddlers who need love. The group of twenty toddlers and twenty senior citizens met at the Emmanuel Old Age Home in Krugersdorp for pizzas and an innovative art project.
After song and dance, they were divided in pairs to create art works. Discussions between the wise elderly and the young children immediately started. The fact that the elderly were not the toddlers’ real grandparents posed no problem, because they certainly looked like grandmothers and grandfathers. The toddlers, from the “Jolige Jakkers” in Krugersdorp, listened carefully to the advice the elderly offered with regard to the art works.