South Africa's largest union in the ICT sector, the Communication Workers Union (CWU), is heading to court today in a bid to overturn the Department of Labour's cancellation of its legal status.
The union, which says it represents 18 000 ICT workers - about a quarter of employees in the sector - recently had its status as a union cancelled by the department for failing to submit audited financial statements.
As a result, it cannot officially act on behalf of its members at hearings at the Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration. It also cannot officially bargain for wage hikes on behalf of its members.
'Surprised'
Roberts explains that the decision means the union has no legal standing to act on behalf of its members, although it is negotiating with companies in the sector to keep representing staff until the ruling is handed down. “We can't protect our members as a result of this unfortunate situation that was uncalled for.”
The union was “greatly” surprised to receive a letter from the department a week ago indicating that its registration was cancelled, notes Roberts. He says the CWU was “shocked, amazed and baffled” as it had been meeting with the department in a bid to address outstanding issues.
Plan of action
In November last year, the department gave the union 60 days to indicate why it should not be deregistered for its alleged failure to comply with requirements in the Labour Relations Act, says Roberts.
The CWU made a representation in January, which the department was happy with, but wanted it to compile a plan of action to indicate how it would resolve outstanding issues, explains Roberts. He says the parties met in April, and the plan was submitted the following month.
During July, the parties had several meetings around audits of its annual financial statements, says Roberts. The union has submitted audited financials for 2006, 2007 and 2008, and made an agreement as to when outstanding annuals would be submitted.
However, the department was not happy with the CWU's auditors' letter indicating it would complete outstanding audits when documents were available. Roberts says this aspect was not brought to the union's attention during the meetings.
The department failed to comment despite several attempts by ITWeb.
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