The first salvo to answer the important call by Executive Mayor Benson Fihla for outstanding labour issues and wild strikes to be addressed, found expression in items tabled before the Human Resources and Corporate Administration Committee today.
Committee Chairperson, Cllr Wandisile Jikeka, ruled that a workshop be arranged between members of the Human Resources and Corporate Administration Committee and officials from the Labour Relations Sub-directorate in November.
The intention of the session is to address the challenges facing the Labour Relations Sub-directorate such as disciplinary cases, grievances and disputes.
Mayor Fihla, affectionately known as Oom Ben, said in August at a sitting of Council: “Councillor Wandisile Jikeka, I think Corporate Services must do much better to conclude Human Resources matters as all of the strikes over the past couple of months are linked to long outstanding issues.
“In all fairness it should have reached some form of conclusion.
“We are constantly embarrassed when workers are locked out of municipal buildings and the public are denied services at government buildings. It cannot continue like this.
“Much work is still required to make our employees feel part of a shared vision and to improve worker moral in order for these wild cat strikes to come to an end.
“We cannot continuously go to court to force our employees to conform when their actions get out of hand.
“They must come to work inspired and encouraged to do their jobs as part of their contribution to society. I trust that you will find ways to address this urgently,” Oom Ben said.
Councillor Jikeka further ruled that a comprehensive item be tabled to address illegal and wildcat strike actions since 2013.
“We received the item but I rejected it since it was not comprehensive enough to meet this committee’s requirements and we did not receive it on time,” he said.
Mod Ndoyana, the man at the helm of corporate services and labour relations in Nelson Mandela Bay, was appointed as the Executive Director of Corporate Services in December 2013.
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