SITA contractors to strike?

Contractors employed by the State IT Agency (SITA) may strike due to unhappiness with the agency's HR procedures.

Last year, Cabinet adopted a turnaround framework for the ailing SITA. One of the outcomes of the strategy is for the agency to become an employer of choice, says public service and administration minister Richard Baloyi.

However, ITWeb was contacted on five different occasions by disgruntled SITA contractors working on high-profile projects. The contractors, some of whom have been with SITA for more than 11 years and hold top-level project management roles, wish to remain anonymous due to fear of losing their contracts.

They allege SITA's turnaround strategy is a smokescreen to hide the organisation's incompetence.

“In spite of all the bad press that SITA has received in recent years, and in spite of the numerous turnaround strategies, they remain one big failure,” claims one contractor.

The contractors have approached trade union Solidarity with their concerns and a strike could materialise.

Chris Roodt, who represents SITA contractors at Solidarity, says discussions with the contractors are under way and there will be some plans for action in the next week or so.

law. It's difficult, because increases are not regulated by law.”

He says contractors need to negotiate with SITA around increases, which is one of their main concerns and, if that doesn't work, then they will resort to power-play and strike.

“But they can't go to labour courts or the CCMA [Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration] with the complaints.”

Contractors say they may strike because their treatment by SITA goes against “the spirit of the constitution, the Labour Relations Act and the concept of Ubuntu”.

SITA has approximately 3 300 employees, of which about 1 000 are contract workers, according to the contractors.

The first complaint from contractors is that permanent employees received increases of around 5.5% in June and top management gets “millions in bonuses”, while contractors have not received anything for the past two years.

The reasons given to contractors are that some clients have not paid, or certain departments have not made budget.

“I am a contractor at SITA, and have been a loyal worker for many years. I try and work my 2 000 hours religiously every year, while the permanent employees work 1 500 hours at the most. I am truly gatvolofthis limp, disorganised, incompetent, top-heavy 'disorganisation',” says one contractor.

ITWeb was also told that contracts are not renewed on time, resulting in contractors having worked almost three months without contracts since they expired at the end of April.

Most contractors were informed about three years ago that they would be converted to permanent employees but this has not materialised.

“Quite a few contractors have resigned in recent years, meaning SITA's skills base is depleting, but it does not seem to bother them one little bit,” says a contractor.

Contractors claim SITA is not much more than a labour broker, and allege that communication within SITA is non-existent.

“We, the contractors, are sick and tired of the treatment that we are receiving from SITA in general.

“When reading about SITA in the press, it is always interesting to hear that they value their people and want to retain core skills - what rubbish,” says a contractor.

SITA acting GM of corporate communications Amitha Ramlal says the agency regards corporate governance as fundamental to the success of its business.

“SITA's processes and practices are underpinned by the principles of openness, integrity and accountability, and an inclusive approach that recognises the importance of all stakeholders.”

She adds that internal and external audits ensure compliance in the contractor recruitment process.

“SITA is currently in turnaround mode and is in the process of revisiting its staffing model and contracting model. This has necessitated the renewal/extension of contracts on a short-term basis.”

However, the contractors are not encouraged by this. “SITA is always busy with a turnaround strategy, which fails CEO after CEO. Every CEO to date has had a turnaround strategy, which has failed miserably.”

Ramlal says the agency reviews the salaries of both permanent employees and contractors annually on a performance basis. “This information is openly and timely communicated to all employees and labour brokers.”

She also says SITA has internal dispute resolution mechanisms and the CEO regularly engages with staff in person, via corporate communiqu'es, live broadcast sessions, a CEO electronic bulletin, as well as via his personal mailbox, ceoideas@sita.co.za.

SITA was established to ensure government benefits through bulk purchasing of ICT goods and services, and to deliver e-government services and establish an ICT skills development plan.

However, it has been beleaguered by allegations of large-scale corruption, irregular procurement practices, and poor governance and leadership.

It has also been plagued by a lack of top-level stability, as several permanent and acting CEOs have come and gone since the agency's inception.