Vocal Shop Stewards and the price they pay
Even while S&M Shop Steward and CWU Provincial Gender Co-ordinator, Janine Murison, tirelessly fights for justice and principle in court, almost every shop steward who questions management's exploitative pratices, gets victimised by SABC Management. Please comment on suggestions on how to put a stop to this.
Cde Rian's DC
Charges
- Inciting friction between Staff and Top Management
- Sending "Information" about Top Management to Parliament
- Sending an e-mail asking all staff to join unions, on a "corporate template"
- "Enjoying" the rights afforded to a Shop Steward, while not being one
Panel
- Alan Visser (has fired more than 20 people - most cases disputed at CCMA + Labour Court)
- Tseliso Leballo (has fired many people - also disputed)
- Merlyn Ashen - HR (Sport, at which CWU members have received bad HR service)
Tommy has disputed the panel chair (Alan Visser) as biased, due to previous experiences with him. CWU now declared a dispute over the interpretration of the Disciplinary Code clause that says a panel must "be seen to be as objective as possible"!
The CCMA shall soon provide us with a date. It is high time that the SABC learns to stick to it's own rules. We undertake to defend the mandate we were given to protect out Shop Stewards!
The hearing will continue on 2 September. It looks like it may stretch for months. There are many witnesses. We need also to line up our own witnesses soon. Please contact Tommy, Billy, Mimi or Aaron if you have had any matter dealt with by Cde Rian in the past 2 years, so you can be added to the witness list.
You have the right to unionise and to fight stupidity.
- Inciting friction between Staff and Top Management
- Sending "Information" about Top Management to Parliament
- Sending an e-mail asking all staff to join unions, on a "corporate template"
- "Enjoying" the rights afforded to a Shop Steward, while not being one
Panel
- Alan Visser (has fired more than 20 people - most cases disputed at CCMA + Labour Court)
- Tseliso Leballo (has fired many people - also disputed)
- Merlyn Ashen - HR (Sport, at which CWU members have received bad HR service)
Tommy has disputed the panel chair (Alan Visser) as biased, due to previous experiences with him. CWU now declared a dispute over the interpretration of the Disciplinary Code clause that says a panel must "be seen to be as objective as possible"!
The CCMA shall soon provide us with a date. It is high time that the SABC learns to stick to it's own rules. We undertake to defend the mandate we were given to protect out Shop Stewards!
The hearing will continue on 2 September. It looks like it may stretch for months. There are many witnesses. We need also to line up our own witnesses soon. Please contact Tommy, Billy, Mimi or Aaron if you have had any matter dealt with by Cde Rian in the past 2 years, so you can be added to the witness list.
You have the right to unionise and to fight stupidity.
2010 Negotiations to start Now
Comrades
82 per cent have voted that salary negotiations must start early, and 64% said we must declare disputes early (as they arise). The 2010 negotiations must be fully concluded by 14 March, on which day the salaries for April should be loaded.
In light of this, parties must have concluded all Bona Fide negotiations by 12 February, in order to leave the 30 days required by law for dispute resolution. Note that - as we speak - budgeting is being done for next year.
In October, an independent arbitrator will rule on the agreements the CWU made with SABC regarding housing subsidy, car subsidy, post retirement benefits, canteen subsidy, gym allowance, bursaries, leave, and other substantive matters.
We should be ready to defend these - and for that, we need a powerful bargaining lobby. Recruit, comrades, recruit! The CWU (at 2008 CEC) aims to enter into agreements with smaller unions, to extend bargaining power.
We need to bring "freelancers" on board post haste - as we believe most freelancers are actually full time employees. The SABC should be forced to process 900 scale dues as well, and include this very important group in our bargaining unit. UASA has signed up 100's of freelancers already - there is no reason we can't do the same.
Please comment - let us get this going - waiting for next year will be a mistake.
82 per cent have voted that salary negotiations must start early, and 64% said we must declare disputes early (as they arise). The 2010 negotiations must be fully concluded by 14 March, on which day the salaries for April should be loaded.
In light of this, parties must have concluded all Bona Fide negotiations by 12 February, in order to leave the 30 days required by law for dispute resolution. Note that - as we speak - budgeting is being done for next year.
In October, an independent arbitrator will rule on the agreements the CWU made with SABC regarding housing subsidy, car subsidy, post retirement benefits, canteen subsidy, gym allowance, bursaries, leave, and other substantive matters.
We should be ready to defend these - and for that, we need a powerful bargaining lobby. Recruit, comrades, recruit! The CWU (at 2008 CEC) aims to enter into agreements with smaller unions, to extend bargaining power.
We need to bring "freelancers" on board post haste - as we believe most freelancers are actually full time employees. The SABC should be forced to process 900 scale dues as well, and include this very important group in our bargaining unit. UASA has signed up 100's of freelancers already - there is no reason we can't do the same.
Please comment - let us get this going - waiting for next year will be a mistake.
SOS Campaign Board Nominations
The “Save our SABC” Campaign representing a number of trade unions; independent producer organisations; a host of NGOs and CBOs; and a number of academic and independent experts have nominated the following people:
COSATU: Kid Sithole, Cedric Gina, Jane Barrett, David Niddrie, Peter Harris, Ben Ngubane, Barbara Masekela, Felleng Sekha, Desmond Golding, Nono Simelela, Yasmin Sooka, Brenda Madumane, Clifford Motsepe, FEDUSA: Prof. Bucker, FXI: Dave Lewis, Ahmed Bawa, Peter Harris, Felleng Sekha, William Gumede, Devan Pillay, John Matisonn, Tanja Bosch, Janine Moolman FXN: William Gumede, Mazibuko Jara, CWU: Jane Duncan CWUSA: Kid Sithole, Dumisani Mphatsoe IPO: David Lewis, Ben Ngubane, Barbara Masekela, Isaac Shongwe, Suzanne Vos, David Niddrie MMA: Lumko Mtimde, Misa- SA Yasmin Sooka, Jeanette Minnie, SA Screen Fed.: Ben Ngubane, David Lewis, Barbara Masekela, David Niddrie, Suzanne Vos, Devan Pillay, Peter Harris, Jane Barrett.
The Coalition broadly supports these nominations. However, we plan to meet in the near future to discuss the nominations in more detail. Also, a number of our members have not as yet submitted their nominations. We would like to include their input. Finally, the Coalition would like to see the full list of names submitted to Parliament. We request that you make this available to us. We may want to include a few further endorsements of nominations made by other organisations. Thanks for your assistance.
Yours sincerely
Working Group: Save our SABC Campaign
COSATU: Kid Sithole, Cedric Gina, Jane Barrett, David Niddrie, Peter Harris, Ben Ngubane, Barbara Masekela, Felleng Sekha, Desmond Golding, Nono Simelela, Yasmin Sooka, Brenda Madumane, Clifford Motsepe, FEDUSA: Prof. Bucker, FXI: Dave Lewis, Ahmed Bawa, Peter Harris, Felleng Sekha, William Gumede, Devan Pillay, John Matisonn, Tanja Bosch, Janine Moolman FXN: William Gumede, Mazibuko Jara, CWU: Jane Duncan CWUSA: Kid Sithole, Dumisani Mphatsoe IPO: David Lewis, Ben Ngubane, Barbara Masekela, Isaac Shongwe, Suzanne Vos, David Niddrie MMA: Lumko Mtimde, Misa- SA Yasmin Sooka, Jeanette Minnie, SA Screen Fed.: Ben Ngubane, David Lewis, Barbara Masekela, David Niddrie, Suzanne Vos, Devan Pillay, Peter Harris, Jane Barrett.
The Coalition broadly supports these nominations. However, we plan to meet in the near future to discuss the nominations in more detail. Also, a number of our members have not as yet submitted their nominations. We would like to include their input. Finally, the Coalition would like to see the full list of names submitted to Parliament. We request that you make this available to us. We may want to include a few further endorsements of nominations made by other organisations. Thanks for your assistance.
Yours sincerely
Working Group: Save our SABC Campaign
Post Mortem
Dear Members
The courage of CWU and MWASA members in defending their mandate was second to none! The SABC is now already a much better place to work than a scant few months ago. Rule by fear and division is on the decline, and Worker Unity on the rise. Viva!
For now, because so much time has passed, we have to temporarily end the suffering of so many families due to shockingly low salaries. Our leaders have rightly now been mandated to take what is being offered for the time being, without prejudicing our rights.
Here are the methods used by the SABC to fatigue our members into signing:
1. Gross and illegal short payment of 12.2%, causing mounting debts, as food inflates 16%.
2. Neglect by all to consider a scientific strategy of Closing the Wage Gap.
3. Illegally taking away the right to do extra work for other departments to make ends meet.
4. Illegally stopping selling of leave.
5. Dishonoring an agreement made 3 years ago to increase housing, food subsidy, gym subsidy and much more.
6. The members dedication to providing the public with continuous service, even under the most trying conditions.
It was a long, hard fight, and we made BIG gains.
We could have fared better had we prioritised our relationship with other unions and freelancer organisations, as they did manage to keep some services going in the short term. We have no doubt that a longer period of witholding our labour would prove that the SABC can not do without us in the long run - we are specialists in what we do.
That is proven by how hard we currently work to catch up, and fix the mess the freelancers made in just two days.
EVEN BETTER NEXT YEAR:
We ask that a better way forward be vigorously debated here, so that all the reasons for this years no-so-good result, not be repeated next year.
Please do not hold back - it is better to debate sensibly here than on the SABC corporate e-mail.
Please encourage all members to join this debate - it is essential that we all learn from mistakes of the past, and build a better future for all of us, strenghthened by experience. VIVA!
Please make constructive comments, and use the voting facility.
Make ALL the selections FIRST - then only press "vote" (YOU ONLY HAVE ONE VOTE) - to show what you think will work next time round.
The courage of CWU and MWASA members in defending their mandate was second to none! The SABC is now already a much better place to work than a scant few months ago. Rule by fear and division is on the decline, and Worker Unity on the rise. Viva!
For now, because so much time has passed, we have to temporarily end the suffering of so many families due to shockingly low salaries. Our leaders have rightly now been mandated to take what is being offered for the time being, without prejudicing our rights.
Here are the methods used by the SABC to fatigue our members into signing:
1. Gross and illegal short payment of 12.2%, causing mounting debts, as food inflates 16%.
2. Neglect by all to consider a scientific strategy of Closing the Wage Gap.
3. Illegally taking away the right to do extra work for other departments to make ends meet.
4. Illegally stopping selling of leave.
5. Dishonoring an agreement made 3 years ago to increase housing, food subsidy, gym subsidy and much more.
6. The members dedication to providing the public with continuous service, even under the most trying conditions.
It was a long, hard fight, and we made BIG gains.
We could have fared better had we prioritised our relationship with other unions and freelancer organisations, as they did manage to keep some services going in the short term. We have no doubt that a longer period of witholding our labour would prove that the SABC can not do without us in the long run - we are specialists in what we do.
That is proven by how hard we currently work to catch up, and fix the mess the freelancers made in just two days.
EVEN BETTER NEXT YEAR:
We ask that a better way forward be vigorously debated here, so that all the reasons for this years no-so-good result, not be repeated next year.
Please do not hold back - it is better to debate sensibly here than on the SABC corporate e-mail.
Please encourage all members to join this debate - it is essential that we all learn from mistakes of the past, and build a better future for all of us, strenghthened by experience. VIVA!
Please make constructive comments, and use the voting facility.
Make ALL the selections FIRST - then only press "vote" (YOU ONLY HAVE ONE VOTE) - to show what you think will work next time round.
SABC Negotiators Fail to Hear Reason
The Top Level CWU Negotiations Team today has made some scientific, well-considered and affordable suggestions to the SABC to broker a deal our members could live with.
Considering what the SABC is asking the honest, hard working members of CWU to do:
Comrades, we will meet on Friday for a way forward. The time has come to decide whether those that have been allowed for so long, to milk our beloved Public Broadcaster dry, should continue to be allowed to do so. Taking away R500 per month each from them in DSTV allowances just does not seem enough of a measure. The Board is wrong to expect us to carry this heavy burden for them. We insist the Board undertakes to pay us our money and our interest - or a settlement figure that makes sense. R2000 a month for the 1000 CWU members is a reasonable and acceptable figure - at justR24m (a hundredth of the salary budget), it is less than what is spent to maintain just 25 of the young "girlfriends". It is time some learn that public money is not there to pay for their carnal pleasures, but to retain real, honest, and hard working broadcasting specialists, like us.
Please attend the meeting on Friday - prepare to defend what is right.
Considering what the SABC is asking the honest, hard working members of CWU to do:
1. Live with the fact that personal debts keep mounting up while the SABC saves a bit of interest payment by witholding the worker increment. Workers must pay interest on more expensive credit each day - that's reality.
2. Ultimately, to agree to (meekly) bear the consequences of money wasted by an irresponsible and uncaring management team, by accepting a 2.2% drop in salary.
3. Forget that a R400 per month increase housing subsidy was promised in 2006 already, but not yet implemented 3 years later.
4. Forget that the Post Retirement Benefits should have been re-instated.
5. Forget that only friends and hired girfriends of management has received any promotions and increases in the past 10 years. Obscene promotions, and obscene increases. Suspending only two perpetrators is only a drop in the ocean
6. Forget that people who have no idea how to provide information, education and entertainment to the public, cost the public 7 figures annually - EACH!
7. Forget that the people in the paragraph above, employ several hired "girlfriends" each, who do little more than entertain the boss - at great cost to viewers and listeners - in staff morale and money.7.1 Collectively, each of the abovementioned fat cats cost the public around 5 million each per month, for themselves, their lifestyles, their unecessary first class travelling, 5 star hotels, fancy food, and their paid young "girlfriends" who provide nothing but carnal favours.
7.2 Arrogantly, even though all and sundry calls for their suspension and investigation, they keep wasting these funds.
Comrades, we will meet on Friday for a way forward. The time has come to decide whether those that have been allowed for so long, to milk our beloved Public Broadcaster dry, should continue to be allowed to do so. Taking away R500 per month each from them in DSTV allowances just does not seem enough of a measure. The Board is wrong to expect us to carry this heavy burden for them. We insist the Board undertakes to pay us our money and our interest - or a settlement figure that makes sense. R2000 a month for the 1000 CWU members is a reasonable and acceptable figure - at justR24m (a hundredth of the salary budget), it is less than what is spent to maintain just 25 of the young "girlfriends". It is time some learn that public money is not there to pay for their carnal pleasures, but to retain real, honest, and hard working broadcasting specialists, like us.
Please attend the meeting on Friday - prepare to defend what is right.
CWU member Proposal
The members of CWU have full confidence in our President, who is heading up our team to get the best possible deal for us. The SABC has now realised how important we are as workers.
The moment we receive news, we shall post it here. Keep checking in, comrades.
We have been informed that the negotiations are going very well - our struggle will pay off, comrades. Well done!
1. OBJECTIVE
1.1 To secure the annual general salary adjustment for unionised employees in the Bargaining Unit for the financial year 2009/10, and to secure the SABC's ability to meet its obligations.
2. SCOPE OF APPLICATION
2.1 This agreement will be applicable to Employees who are Members in good standing of Communication Workers Union, within the bargaining unit (scale codes 300-409 and 600).
2.2 The scope of this agreement excludes scale code 900 employees, on condition that they are certified as Bona Fide Ad Hoc Freelancers.
3. SALARY ADJUSTMENT
3.1 CWU members in the bargaining unit will receive ten per cent (10%) salary adjustment across the board (ATB) for the financial year 2009/10, back paid to 1 April 2009 with interest calculated at 10%p.a.
3.2 The referred to salary adjustment and interest payment will be effected within five (5) days of the signing of this agreement.
3.3 A further 2.2% increase, backdated with interest, to 1 April 2009 shall be paid to CWU members by latest 31 January 2010, or soon as the SABC has secured a bail-out package from Government or overdraft facility to enable the payment. The CWU undertakes to assist the SABC in regaining credit health, by supporting a full scale effort at recovering all funds lost due to wasteful expenditure. See 6.4 - 6.7.
4. DATE OF IMPLEMENTATION
4.1 This agreement shall come into effect on the date of signature hereof and shall remain in force until 31 March 2010, unless otherwise agreed to by the parties hereto in writing.
5. STATUS OF AGREEMENT
5.1 This agreement supplements the outstanding agreements previously made on substantive issues.
6. FURTHER AGREEMENTS
The SABC undertakes to:
6.1 Extend the petrol / garage card benefits currently enjoyed by senior management to all CWU members in the Bargaining Unit.
6.2 Extend the DSTV allowances currently enjoyed by Top & Senior Managers to all CWU Members in the Bargaining Unit.
6.3 Equitably make available Newspapers to all employees - no individual deliveries.
6.4 Fully support and comply with the investigation currently being conducted by the Auditor General, but to add 2 extra people on the team:
- 6.4.1 An auditor of the CWU's choice, as well as
- 6.4.2 A democratically elected Trade Union Representative.
6.5 Request the team in 6.4 supra, to review all cases of CWU Shop Stewards who engaged in Collective Bargaining with their management, and was subsequently fired, suspended or disciplined by that same management, with the goals of:
- 6.5.1 Reversing the adverse effects on SABC of such victimisation / silencing, and
- 6.5.2 Making those Shop Stewards and members available to contribute to the investigations.
6.6 Make available to the public, the Shareholder, the Board and the CWU, for inspection, all audit recommendations for the past 10 years, both internal and external.
6.7 Sue and criminally prosecute, where applicable, all employees who is suspected of having fruitlessly and wastefully spent the SABC's money.
6.8 The Team in 6.4 supra, shall transparently, on the last working day of each month, report the progress of wasteful expenditure recovery to the CWU, in order for it to be informed at what point the SABC has the extra R20million to cover the 2.2%.
6.9 If by 1 December 2009, the team in 6.4 supra has not been able to recover at least R20million, the short payment shall then be referred to the Shareholder on that date.
6.9 Re-instate selling of leave with immediate effect, even if the amount of leave days sold is limited to 3 days a month at first.
The moment we receive news, we shall post it here. Keep checking in, comrades.
We have been informed that the negotiations are going very well - our struggle will pay off, comrades. Well done!
1. OBJECTIVE
1.1 To secure the annual general salary adjustment for unionised employees in the Bargaining Unit for the financial year 2009/10, and to secure the SABC's ability to meet its obligations.
2. SCOPE OF APPLICATION
2.1 This agreement will be applicable to Employees who are Members in good standing of Communication Workers Union, within the bargaining unit (scale codes 300-409 and 600).
2.2 The scope of this agreement excludes scale code 900 employees, on condition that they are certified as Bona Fide Ad Hoc Freelancers.
3. SALARY ADJUSTMENT
3.1 CWU members in the bargaining unit will receive ten per cent (10%) salary adjustment across the board (ATB) for the financial year 2009/10, back paid to 1 April 2009 with interest calculated at 10%p.a.
3.2 The referred to salary adjustment and interest payment will be effected within five (5) days of the signing of this agreement.
3.3 A further 2.2% increase, backdated with interest, to 1 April 2009 shall be paid to CWU members by latest 31 January 2010, or soon as the SABC has secured a bail-out package from Government or overdraft facility to enable the payment. The CWU undertakes to assist the SABC in regaining credit health, by supporting a full scale effort at recovering all funds lost due to wasteful expenditure. See 6.4 - 6.7.
4. DATE OF IMPLEMENTATION
4.1 This agreement shall come into effect on the date of signature hereof and shall remain in force until 31 March 2010, unless otherwise agreed to by the parties hereto in writing.
5. STATUS OF AGREEMENT
5.1 This agreement supplements the outstanding agreements previously made on substantive issues.
6. FURTHER AGREEMENTS
The SABC undertakes to:
6.1 Extend the petrol / garage card benefits currently enjoyed by senior management to all CWU members in the Bargaining Unit.
6.2 Extend the DSTV allowances currently enjoyed by Top & Senior Managers to all CWU Members in the Bargaining Unit.
6.3 Equitably make available Newspapers to all employees - no individual deliveries.
6.4 Fully support and comply with the investigation currently being conducted by the Auditor General, but to add 2 extra people on the team:
- 6.4.1 An auditor of the CWU's choice, as well as
- 6.4.2 A democratically elected Trade Union Representative.
6.5 Request the team in 6.4 supra, to review all cases of CWU Shop Stewards who engaged in Collective Bargaining with their management, and was subsequently fired, suspended or disciplined by that same management, with the goals of:
- 6.5.1 Reversing the adverse effects on SABC of such victimisation / silencing, and
- 6.5.2 Making those Shop Stewards and members available to contribute to the investigations.
6.6 Make available to the public, the Shareholder, the Board and the CWU, for inspection, all audit recommendations for the past 10 years, both internal and external.
6.7 Sue and criminally prosecute, where applicable, all employees who is suspected of having fruitlessly and wastefully spent the SABC's money.
6.8 The Team in 6.4 supra, shall transparently, on the last working day of each month, report the progress of wasteful expenditure recovery to the CWU, in order for it to be informed at what point the SABC has the extra R20million to cover the 2.2%.
6.9 If by 1 December 2009, the team in 6.4 supra has not been able to recover at least R20million, the short payment shall then be referred to the Shareholder on that date.
6.9 Re-instate selling of leave with immediate effect, even if the amount of leave days sold is limited to 3 days a month at first.
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