City of Tshwane ordered to pay back wages it deducted from 'striking' workers by Friday

The City of Tshwane was ordered to pay back by Friday wages it deducted from more than 60 workers it accused of taking part in an unprotected strike for several weeks.

The labour court on Thursday enforced an agreement between the Independent Municipal and Allied Trade Union (Imatu) and the municipality to repay deducted wages for October.

The city deducted more than 25% from 66 staff members' salaries from August, stating the Imatu members did not perform their duties during the unprotected municipal workers’ strike.

“If such deductions have been made by the [municipality] from [Imatu's] members’ salaries for October, [the municipality] is ordered to affect a re-run and pay at its own expense the amounts so deducted from the affected members to the affected members by not later than 2pm on October 27 [Friday] 2023,” the labour court ruled.

According to Imatu's Tshwane regional secretary Lynette Burns-Coetzee, the workers were said to have missed 22 days of work. But they had clocked in and could not perform their duties due to being intimidated by striking workers, she said.

Imatu first took on Tshwane in August when they approached the labour court for an interdict on what they claimed were unfair salary deductions from members. Tshwane was ordered on September 1 to pay back the affected workers.

Tshwane municipality spokesperson Selby Bokaba said the August salaries were recalled but were reinstated after Imatu's urgent court application.

“The city reinstated the salaries docked for the period that the employees were on strike in one deduction. The Basic Conditions of Employment Act requires that the employer not deduct more than 25% of an employee’s salary. The deductions effected were in excess of the 25% threshold, hence the reason for the reversal of the deductions,” Bokaba said.

Burns-Coetzee said deducting wages from the workers in question was procedurally unfair as they had signed in for work but were barred from performing their duties by striking workers.

She said the workers most affected were those in Rosslyn, Soshanguve, Refilwe and Cullinan who were forcibly removed from their place of work by the strikers.

“They [the strikers] targeted the electricians and water and sanitation workers. The electricians would arrive at the depot in the morning during the strike and strikers would intimidate them to get out of the building and everyone would stand outside, including management and administrative staff.

“But they [the municipality] deduct money from the electrician and not the manager. They were selective in who they deducted from. In Refilwe and Cullinan, they deducted from everyone including HR, but never management. Management would always get their salary,” she said.

Bokaba insists that, despite Imatu's claims, the workers were on strike. Many of their members refused to perform their duties despite having signed the attendance register.

“This in effect meant that they were on strike in terms of the definition of a strike as contained in the Labour Relations Act. It was confirmed by the relevant department that the employees were on strike and the no work, no pay principle was applied,” he said.

The legal battle between Imatu and Tshwane will return to the labour court on November 3. In the interim, the city has been ordered to submit answering affidavits to Imatu's challenge against the deductions from members’ salaries.

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