Johannesburg - The Association of Private Security Owners of South Africa (Tapsosa) has slammed the “disingenuous nature” of a proposed strike by a group of trade unions, including Numsa and Satawu, who are planning to picket against it and medical insurance company Imvula Group.
This past week, the unions confirmed their intention to march to the offices of Imvula Group, set for Woodmead on Tuesday.
Numsa recently reported that the Council for Medical Schemes was actively investigating cases against security companies that deducted money from workers for medical insurance but failed to pay it over to Affinity Health, the chosen service provider.
Last month, Numsa accused at least 18 security companies of defrauding workers of their benefits.
The proposed picket is in protest of alleged non-payment of medical aid funds by certain security companies affiliated with Tapsosa.
In a statement, Tapsosa said the ongoing intimidating tactics and the discrediting of a Tapsosa-affiliated security company are “disingenuous and not in good spirit”.
“The continued intimidating tactics and the discrediting of some Tapsosa members in a public statement issued by Numsa are not only disingenuous but indicate the severity with which some of these unions have been used to perpetuate the monopolistic agenda and stifle competition in the industry,” Tapsosa spokesperson Sindiswa Changuion said.
This comes after Numsa accused security companies of defrauding workers of their medical insurance benefits.
Numsa recently reported that the Council for Medical Schemes was actively investigating cases against security companies that deducted money from workers for medical insurance but failed to pay it over to Affinity Health, the chosen service provider.
According to a media statement, Numsa and other trade unions such as Abanqobi Workers Union, Kungwini Amalgamated Workers Union and Satawu, will march in protest over the iMvula Group’s continued deductions of millions of rand from the salaries of poorly paid security officers despite not relaying such deductions to the designated health-care service provider.
In a joint media statement, the unions allege the group, through its subsidiary iMvula Quality Protection, has illegally misrepresented itself and is illegally deducting the salaries of affected workers.
However, the organisation has denied the accusations, adding that no provision in the collective agreement mentions Affinity Health as the sole service provider of choice for medical insurance services.
“The representatives of these unions who are also part of this agenda claim to be representing workers’ interests, but were using the same modus operandi when they served in the industry provident fund by allowing themselves to be used and manipulated for gain at the expense of workers. Some of the unions are lured into meetings with brown envelopes and encouraged to increase their membership in the medical aid scheme chosen by the bargaining council,” Changion said.
The Star