SABC unions may go back to Labour Court to oppose retrenchment process

Trade unions are once again threatening the  South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) with court action over the handling of the retrenchment process. They say the process, which was meant to be completed by the end of last month, is unjust, unlawful and flawed.

The  SABC initially targeted 600 employees for retrenchment citing a lack of funds. It later reduced the number to 300 employees and promised that most of them would get an opportunity to apply for new jobs in a new corporate structure to be introduced by the end of last month.

The process has been underway over the past month with numerous new posts advertised internally and interviews conducted. But now, unions are crying foul.

Unions also accuse management of misleading the workers and the public about the real number of employees that are targeted for retrenchment.

The Communication Workers Union(CWU) is also unhappy about the process.

Both BEMAWU and the CWU say the retrenchment process is being carried out unfairly and they are contemplating going back to the Labour Court to oppose it.

SABC management declined to comment and said they will do so later this week.

Meanwhile, stress and anxiety among employees are running high.

In the video below, Bemawu and CWU weigh in on proposed funding model for SABC:

Service providers

Meanwhile, the SABC has confirmed that all the payments pertaining to the services provided at the SABC North West are up to date except for the delayed payment that was due in February due to administrative issues.

SABC spokesperson, Mmoni Seapolelo, says the SABC would also want to state that the payment of the service provider’s staff members remains the sole responsibility of the service provider and not that of the SABC.

This after security personnel employed by Modise Protection Services at the SABC in the North West threatened to embark on industrial action should their employer not pay their February salaries by midday on Tuesday.

The employees say it is now becoming a trend that they do not get paid their salaries on time. They say they were supposed to have been paid on the 20th of last month, but to date, they have not received anything.

Workers say it is for the second consecutive month now that there has been a delay in their salary payments.  -Additional reporting by Sylvester Serame