Bemawu mulls next move after SABC finalises job cuts
The Broadcasting, Electronic, Media and Allied Workers Union (Bemawu) says it’s weighing its options after the SABC finalised plans to retrench some 300 workers.
On Thursday, the public broadcaster revealed it would issue final notices to some of its workers next week.
The public broadcaster initially projected some 600 redundancies but managed to cut it down to 303 following rigorous consultations.
Bemawu’s president Hannes du Buisson expressed mixed feelings about the finalisation of the section 189 process.
“The SABC for a long time has been saying that the number has been reduced to 400 and it seems there is now another reduction of about 100 people. We believe that reduction came about as part of the fact that the SABC done what we asked them to do right from the beginning that is to engage staff members on the shop floor level.
“Of course we are happy for every job that can be saved but we believe that that number should be reduced significantly still had we been given an opportunity to give our final input into the structure,” said Du Buisson.
It’s unclear yet how many of its members would be out of a job.
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“We have requested the SABC for a name list already a week ago, if not longer. We have not received that name list, so we are in the dark as to how many of our members are affected but that is not really the issue. The issue is that its SABC employees that are being put out on the street, that have done nothing wrong, that are going to lose their jobs as a result of the shenanigans that were done by management of the SABC."
Du Buisson adds that the union may still challenge the retrenchments.
“We’ve consulted members on a way forward in respect of whether there’s an appetite to strike, it seems there is at this point in time, we’ve not made a decision in that respect but if that is what it’s going to take to stop the SABC ultimately then that is what it would be.
“Of course, there’s still an opportunity for us, on behalf of members that have been dismissed by the SABC in terms of the retrenchment process, to challenge those dismissals in court and that is something that we will do if we are of the view that it was done in an unfair manner.”
SABC COO Ian Plaatjies maintains the broadcaster did all it could to spare livelihoods.
He says there are some conditions that must be met to ensure that no further chops are needed.
“The only way of saving the 300 jobs is by identifying the alternatives on the tables. Some of the alternatives is part of the conditions of employment and they still need to be negotiated after the [section] 189 process.
“They include, for example, a salary freeze across the board for the next three years or until the organisation breaks even and then we can consider salary increases. It includes reduction of leave from 35 days to 28 days and a reduction of sick leave.
“If those conditions are not favourably negotiated after the [section] 189 process it means that the 300 jobs that were saved in this round would be back on the table again,” Plaatjies adds.
