Cape Town - Parliament may be heading for a repeat of the industrial action that gripped it late last year if matters outstanding from that strike are not resolved.
This is the view of the National Education Health and Allied Workers Union (Nehawu), which yesterday said it was still hoping for an amicable solution.
Parliament served Sthembiso Tembe, chairman of the parliamentary chapter of Nehawu, with a cautionary suspension notice on insubordination and misconduct charges on Tuesday.
This notice as well as one issued to another Nehawu official, followed two recent meetings convened by Secretary to Parliament Gengezi Mgidlana, to discuss staff conduct. Mgidlana apparently abruptly ended both meetings.
Nehawu represents more than 1 000 of the legislature’s 1 389 employees, making this the union’s largest branch in the Western Cape.
The misconduct and insubordination charges could lead to the dismissal of Tembe and others.
In response to the suspension notices, parliamentary workers briefly downed tools on Wednesday.
In a statement , Parliament said it “noted with serious concern the unauthorised, unprotected, and illegal work stoppage”.
It said the suspension notices did not indicate guilt and those who received them would receive full remuneration pending the outcome of a disciplinary process.
Eric Kweleta, provincial Nehawu secretary, accused Mgidlana of “behaving like the Botha of Parliament, very hostile, lacking political will and putting his own ego in the way of an amicable solution between parliament and its workers”.
“(Mgidlana) is an iron-fisted ruler who has adopted a heavy-handed and non-conciliatory approach, which can be clearly seen with this direct attack on Nehawu at Parliament,” Kweleta said, while the union was still holding out an olive branch.
“We don’t want to see scenes of the order of what was happening last year,” Kweleta said.
If the matter was not sorted out, the union would refer it to its national leadership, which could decide whether to embark on legal industrial action.
Parliament spokesman Luzuko Jacobs said they were concerned about Wednesday’s impromptu strike.He rejected the allegation that Mgidlana was “heavy handed and non-conciliatory”.
“We must discuss, we must find each other, to find a solution. That is our consistent position,” Jacobs said.
Weekend Argus