Samwu 'vindicated' by labour court — Rand Water strike postponed

The South African Municipal Workers’ Union (Samwu) says it has been “vindicated” by the labour court in its dispute with Rand Water over the payment of incentive bonuses.

Rand Water had approached the court on Wednesday, seeking an urgent interdict to prevent Samwu members from embarking on an indefinite strike over the bonus and other demands.

The union said in a statement on Wednesday afternoon that the court had “lambasted the employer” for failing to meet the union to solve this issue as a matter of urgency.

“The judge further urges parties to meet and come up with a settlement agreement. As per the settlement agreement which had become an order of the court, the employer has agreed to withdraw the memorandum which unilaterally changed the conditions of workers. As a sign of good faith we have also postponed our strike until April 28,” it said.

Samwu resolved to embark on an indefinite protected strike after, it charged, Rand Water had unilaterally changed workers' conditions of service, in particular withdrawing incentive bonuses which had been received for the past 17 years.

The strike was postponed to allow the Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration (CCMA) to arbitrate the matter which is set down to be heard on April 28.

Earlier on Wednesday, about 60 workers dressed in red T-shirts and carrying placards gathered outside Rand Water.

General manager for communications and stakeholder relations at Rand Water Teboho Joala said earlier that the utility was prepared to listen to the union's grievances.

“We had discussions with Samwu and they declared a dispute and took us to the CCMA. The matter is going to be heard on the 28th [of April]. We are prepared and committed to having continued discussions until we have an amicable solution,” he said.

Joala said the incentive bonus the workers were protesting for was a discretionary bonus given by the company board.

In the statement after the labour court hearing, Samwu warned it “cannot guarantee that residents and industries that are served by Rand Water in Gauteng, Limpopo, Mpumalanga and North West will have running water” if their demands were not met.

“All we can do is pray and hope for rain as that will be the only source of water that will be available in those areas.”

TimesLIVE has reached out to Rand Water for its reaction to the labour court hearing.

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