Cosatu and Sasbo set to appeal interdict halting planned bank strike

26 September 2019 - 12:59 By ERNEST MABUZA
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Cosatu and Sasbo plan to appeal against Thursday's labour court judgment which interdicted their members from going ahead with planned protest action against banks on Friday. Stock photo.
Cosatu and Sasbo plan to appeal against Thursday's labour court judgment which interdicted their members from going ahead with planned protest action against banks on Friday. Stock photo.
Image: 123rf.com/Brian Jackson

Finance union Sasbo will appeal a judgment by the labour court which on Thursday interdicted the union from engaging in protest action on Friday against retrenchments in the banking sector.

Judge Hilary Rabkin-Naicker ruled that Cosatu and Sasbo had failed to comply with provisions of section 77 (1) of the Labour Relations Act, which govern protests to promote and defend the socio-economic rights of workers.

Speaking after the judgment, Sasbo general secretary Joe Kokela said the union leadership would explain to its members what the judgment meant.

“[The protest action] is not cancelled, it is suspended. We are not going to sit down as Sasbo and Cosatu to watch our workers exploited by capitalism,” Kokela said.

Cosatu deputy general secretary Solly Phetoe said the federation was not going to demobilise its members following the judgment.

“We are going to mobilise our members against the exploitation, against the continuation of retrenchments in the bank sector but also in the manufacturing, in the mining and in the agricultural sectors.

“We will ask our legal team to get the reasons [for the judgment], and immediately they must appeal,” Phetoe said.

Phetoe said Cosatu was going back to Nedlac to resubmit a notice about its grievances on the economic crisis in the country.

“All along as Sasbo and Cosatu, we were convinced we did all we were supposed to have done,” Phetoe said.

In her order, Rabkin-Naicker said any person who took part in the intended protest action did not enjoy the protections afforded by the Labour Relations Act.

“Cosatu and Sasbo are hereby interdicted and restrained from proceeding with, encouraging or enticing employees to engage in the intended protest action or any conduct in contemplation or in furtherance thereof, unless and until such time as they have complied with section 77 of the Labour Relations Act,” the judge said in her order.


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