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Members of the National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa (NUMSA) are gathered here to protest against the persistent union bashing from the Barnes Group led by Doron Barnes at SCAW metals. NUMSA members and shop stewards have been consistent victims of this brutal attack which is anti-worker. Here we are dealing with an agenda whose main mission is to liquidate the existence of NUMSA in particular the existence of NUMSA membership across all branches of SCAW.

This systematic attack manifests itself by attacking all hard-won gains of workers, their benefits, and conditions. The union is putting up resistance and both workers and shop stewards who have the political confidence to challenge this are not spared. The company is led by conservative white males, right from Doron Barnes. The leader of this detachment is Riaan Tromp, who is clearly hired as a specialist to dismiss workers and shop stewards and to realize this he imposes charges that are formulated such that no worker can be spared. All workers and shop stewards are victims of one single creative charge that is called gross misconduct. This vicious attack is prevalent in all SCAW branches such as:

• SCAW Union Junction

• Steel Wire Rope

• Wire and Strand

• Distributions

The co-ordinators of this project across all SCAW branches are people who have taken a conscious decision that they will not use today’s modern systems of industrial relations to manage workers. We are dealing with a group of managers that firmly believe in the old apartheid system of managing workers in South Africa. That of driving a management style of prerogatives whose main target is to realize the super exploitation of black and African labour. The management of SCAW who is leading this aggressive offensive against workers are:

• Doron Barnes

• Riaan Tromp

• Etienne van Stratten

• Lisa Engelbrecht

• Danie de Wet

• Jane Erasmus

As a union we are very clear that this untransformed lily-white workplace accounts for this    unbearable existing contradiction which we reject in the new South African dispensation. Where black workers can deliver quality production, but they completely do not feature in the demographics of the company where they are not allowed to occupy senior management positions so that they can take decisions in the interest of fellow brothers and manage them with humility. The few black individuals who are in management are conformists and they are nothing but tokens, as they are not allowed to take any decisions.

The union in responding to this challenge has declared dispute and made the following demands:

1.     We demanded that these management crooks must be investigated for undermining the Union and its programs. The investigation will consider which managers are responsible for the deteriorating relationship with the Union and recommend whether a member should be charged and disciplined for their conduct.

2.     Put together a progressive transformative Recruitment Policy, in particular the requirement that preference be given to internal candidates for vacant positions.

The following is an example of the relentless attack on workers:

a)    The dismissal track record of our members and shop stewards orchestrated by this cruel bunch of white male untransformed managers, in each and every branch of SCAW, means that at least 300 workers have been dismissed since the Barnes Group took over in a four year period on flimsy allegations and trumped-up charges.

b)    The total number of NUMSA shop stewards that have been dismissed in the same period, is at least eleven and their sin was to defend workers interests.

This group of executives are undermining the right of the union to exist in the workplace and the freedom of association for workers to join a union of their choice has been under attack. Here we are dealing with a company that is refusing to accept that worker rights as human rights.

These are some of the flagrant workplace violations which SCAW has committed:

§  We had a situation in one of the SCAW plants in Union junction where a worker on 6 September 2022 collapsed in the factory. To date we do not know whether the matter was reported properly to the Department of Labour and if the necessary investigations were conducted. We are still awaiting a report. We know for a fact that this worker ended up losing his life.

§  Workers in UJ are made foreigners in their own country because they are not allowed to speak their mother tongue. They are forced to speak English when they communicate amongst themselves. This is a violation of free speech! It is no different to the racist Apartheid past where Afrikaans was made a compulsory medium of instruction in education and it was made compulsory which led to the 1976 strike, this is championed by Eiteene van Stratten. In a country where the constitution and the Bill of Right promote the use of 11 official languages.

§  At Steel Wire Rope, Wire and Strand, and Johannesburg Distributions the employer has unilaterally taken away housing assistance from workers who have been benefiting from these agreements.

§  In all branches of SCAW the employers have unilaterally decided to close their medical centres while workers are at work. There is not medical assistance on weekends and at night.

§  The employer has unilaterally done away with internal gradings. They are claiming that employees are earning high salaries and this is stifling upward mobility of workers.

§  We have a practical experience where a black worker was assaulted by Matthew Kannermeyer and the presiding officer vindicated him of any wrong doing.

§  In the same plant we had a situation where another white male was charged for sexual harassment of an African woman, was found guilty and was only given a slap in the wrist instead of being dismissed.

1.     We demand that all contract workers must be made permanent with the same rights and benefits as permanent employees.

2.     We demand that this group of managers must be investigated by a Senior Counsel from the Johannesburg Bar Council. The investigator must be agreed to by both parties. He or she must be briefed by both the Union and management. The investigator’s recommendations are binding on the company. The investigation must be conducted on an inquisitorial basis

3.     There can be no stability at SCAW when our members are charged in this targeted fashion using tramped up charges against our members who embarked on a peaceful strike. We demand that SCAW must drop its unfair tramped up charges against our shop stewards and all our members

4.     We demand that the IDC cannot continue to invest money from the public purse into this racist anti-worker, union bashing company. If they must continue to enjoy IDC investment then there must be a commitment that racism, anti-worker, and union bashing must be stopped and uprooted with immediate effect at SCAW. Enough is enough!

This is the second memorandum that NUMSA has submitted to the IDC, the first memorandum was delivered on 8 June 2022, as a shareholder you chose not to respond. This has led to a situation where matters have escalated to a point where this situation is spiralling out of control. We call on you to act and act now. 

We are submitting these demands to the IDC and we expect a written response within 7 days.