Durban - KwaZulu-Natal Co-operative Governance and Traditional Affairs (Cogta) employees are accusing trade unions of being in cahoots with department officials who are delaying payments of overdue salary progressions.
Some workers have been in the employ of the department since 2012 and claim that they are owed hundreds of thousands of rand.
In February, the KZN Cogta employed contract workers on a permanent basis but they want the department to pay what is owed to them.
Workers claim they had relied on their representatives from the National Education, Health and Allied Workers’ Union (Nehawu) and the Public Servants Association of South Africa (PSA) to negotiate on their behalf until the employer was transparent with the process and committed to payment dates.
Instead the unions allegedly held secret meetings with officials and failed to report back to the workers.
After much pressure to pay up, the department allegedly promised to pay only 39 workers from the hundreds owed. The money was expected last Thursday, but no payment has been received yet.
A worker who did not want to be named told the Sunday Tribune that when they requested that their human resources department share the criteria used to pick the 39 individuals and the formula used to calculate their pay, they were allegedly met with hostility.
HR then issued a letter requesting individuals to produce their appointment letters, which would enable accurate calculations for individuals.
The employee claimed that the PSA had been quiet on the matter despite their ongoing grievances.
“We are aware that they have been attending meetings but we are not sure what their mandate is because they are not conferring with us. When they attend these meetings, we are not sure what they are discussing because there has never been a formal session to brief us.”
On Tuesday the unions called a joint meeting to update workers on the progress of payment. Those who were in attendance expressed shock at how ill prepared their union representatives were. This allegedly resulted in the meeting getting heated and being cut short.
“We all went there because we were eager to hear when these payments would be made, but the person addressing us was combining the issue of the current 3% increases being negotiated with the pay progressions.
“We were not interested in the 3%, we wanted to hear how far they were with money owed to us,” said the employee. “The reason they called this joint meeting was that they are aware that we are considering taking matters further without involving the unions.”
The workers said they were tired of the waiting game but that the department should hurry up and show them the money.
Nehawu provincial secretary Ayanda Zulu denied that they were selling out workers. He said they had been fighting for workers to be paid.
Zulu said the KZN Cogta HOD had made a commitment to process the payment, but they had no dates as the process was regulated by pay progression policies.
He said the union had been successful in getting almost all contract workers to be employed permanently at a time when the department was contemplating terminating all contracts.
“The HOD has approved the payment of these outstanding monies, but it will be done in phases. We will do a follow-up on the exact dates.”
PSA provincial manager Mlungisi Ndlovu explained that they had provided the department with a list of people owed and that verifications and calculations were under way.
“Some of these processes take time but we are able to have bilateral discussions and are able to move. If we take the process to a dispute it could take years,” he said.
“Through our engagement, the 39 employees are expected to receive payment before the end of November and they need to speed up the process. We did provide feedback to members but they are frustrated.”
The KZN Cogta did not respond to questions.
SUNDAY TRIBUNE