Pretoria - With tens of thousands of jobs on the line because of the economic crisis, trade union Solidarity has crafted an emergency plan to deal with the retrenchment crisis likely to affect its members.
At a media conference hosted at the union’s office in Pretoria yesterday, the union’s Dr Danie Brink said the plan involved several aid projects launched by the trade union in collaboration with Solidarity Helping Hand to mitigate the impact of retrenchments on union members.
The plan would help to alleviate the hardship faced by its members in the event of retrenchment and to break the cycle of poverty, he said.
The union would distribute food parcels to retrenched workers and donate formula milk to mothers.
He said R26.6 million had been spent on the bursary scheme this year. The union will also make sure that the children of members likely to be retrenched will receive bursaries for next year.
Union deputy head, Johan Kruger, said the union had instructed its legal team to ensure all retrenchments affecting its members had to comply with legal requirements. The legal team will look at the final number of employees to be retrenched, when their employment will be terminated, and what alternatives to retrenchment may be considered, he said.
Solidarity was concerned about employers “not doing enough to provide the employees with full information on the financial impact that their plans would have on individuals”.
He said: “Research has shown that most people affected by retrenchment processes often experience emotions comparable to those of people after the death of a loved one.” To deal with the situation, the union has arranged to take retrenched workers through a career clinic. Counselling, he said, would be done in collaboration with churches to assist them.
They should be re-admitted to the labour market as soon as possible as retrenchment packages only provided a temporary solution, he said.
The Helping Hand also provides a free Afrikaans platform, called WerkNet, where jobseekers can upload their CVs free of charge. “Here individuals can also get free advice on drafting a professional CV, and they will be assisted by a professional recruitment agency,” he said.
PRETORIA NEWS