“Thankfully, the court handed down a permanent order earlier this month that the minister of electricity, Kgosientsho Ramokgopa, must stop the rolling blackouts by January 31,” the union said.
The union also welcomed the signing of the National Health Insurance (NHI) Bill by the National Council of Provinces. It said this brought the country one step closer to universal healthcare for all.
“Haitu has been fighting for the adoption of the NHI Bill because we believe that healthcare must be free and accessible to everyone. Our position as a union is that NHI can only be properly implemented if we ban the private healthcare sector completely.”
The union said it spent much of the year defending ordinary workers on the shop floor.
It cited its intervention in a matter where three nurses were unfairly suspended at Thelle Mogoerane Regional Hospital in Vosloorus and the Gauteng health department unfairly blamed workers for poor service when it failed to provide a colostomy bag for a young patient.
The union said it had been the leading voice in the healthcare sector to denounce the exploitation of nurses through endless temporary contracts.
“We have fought for community health workers, Expanded Public Works Programme (EPWP) workers and for security guards to be insourced at all healthcare facilities.
“We have a dire shortage of workers in the healthcare space and this shortage has a major negative impact on services to the community.”
The union said it will continue to campaign for an end to labour brokers and temporary contracts in health care.
TimesLIVE
Haitu at midway point in bid to be eligible to join PSCBC
The Health and Allied Workers Indaba Trade Union (Haitu) says it is just a matter of time before it is able to join the Public Service Co-ordinating Bargaining Council (PSCBC) to represent workers in public sector wage negotiations.
The union, formed in 2015, was reflecting on its achievements for 2023.
It said it had already signed up more than 23,000 workers. In terms of the PSCBC constitution, a single trade union may apply for admission to the council if it meets the threshold requirement of 50,000 members.
“We ended the year on a victorious note, having secured a victory at the North Gauteng High Court where an order was handed down by the court that Eskom must stop load-shedding.”
Haitu was part of a multi-stakeholder group that included Numsa, the UDM and others which launched a groundbreaking court application to end load-shedding in all healthcare facilities, state schools and police stations.
“The union played a crucial role by making submissions to the court on the devastating impact of rolling blackouts on patients’ lives.
“Thankfully, the court handed down a permanent order earlier this month that the minister of electricity, Kgosientsho Ramokgopa, must stop the rolling blackouts by January 31,” the union said.
The union also welcomed the signing of the National Health Insurance (NHI) Bill by the National Council of Provinces. It said this brought the country one step closer to universal healthcare for all.
“Haitu has been fighting for the adoption of the NHI Bill because we believe that healthcare must be free and accessible to everyone. Our position as a union is that NHI can only be properly implemented if we ban the private healthcare sector completely.”
The union said it spent much of the year defending ordinary workers on the shop floor.
It cited its intervention in a matter where three nurses were unfairly suspended at Thelle Mogoerane Regional Hospital in Vosloorus and the Gauteng health department unfairly blamed workers for poor service when it failed to provide a colostomy bag for a young patient.
The union said it had been the leading voice in the healthcare sector to denounce the exploitation of nurses through endless temporary contracts.
“We have fought for community health workers, Expanded Public Works Programme (EPWP) workers and for security guards to be insourced at all healthcare facilities.
“We have a dire shortage of workers in the healthcare space and this shortage has a major negative impact on services to the community.”
The union said it will continue to campaign for an end to labour brokers and temporary contracts in health care.
TimesLIVE
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