A recent municipal strike spearheaded by solid waste department employees was driven by disputes over overtime payments that exceeded basic monthly salaries, according to a Labour Court filing.

In the Labour Court filing dated July 7, the municipality stated that solid waste employees earned overtime equal to 118% of the department’s entire basic salary budget.

The solid waste department has 204 employees across its cleansing cost centres, including drivers, machine operators, foremen, supervisors, artisan assistants and general refuse collectors.

Suspensions and shift disputes

In the filing, the municipality said it identified 16 employees behind the go-slow embarked on since December.

The employees were served with precautionary suspension letters, resulting in the week-long strike, which started on June 29.

The municipality said ‘self-interest’ was the driving force behind the ongoing labour dispute.

In May, the municipality paid out R3.6m in basic salaries.

Overtime payments in May were R2.9m alongside Sunday-time pay of R1.4m.

The combined overtime for May totalled R4.3m, a sum equal to approximately 118% of the entire basic salary bill.

Compactor truck leases

The overtime payments were entirely funded by Middelburg ratepayers.

Since December, employees pushed back against the use of leased compactor trucks, following almost an entire fleet collapse due to natural attrition.

The municipality decided to lease seven refuse compactors on a full-maintenance lease, rather than purchasing the necessary fleet, which would have set the municipality back by R42m.

The lease tallied R22.6m at roughly R21 000 per day, with a saving of R19.7m.

The lease was coupled with a shift system implemented by the municipality, dictating that teams would work rostered shifts, which a core group of employees objected to from the outset, resulting in a go-slow.

Last month, the municipality leased another two compactor trucks to address the backlogs caused by employees.

The two trucks were leased at R108 100 over five days, costing R10 810 per day.

Union stance and budget constraints

Despite multiple attempts to resolve the stalemate, employees embarked on an unprotected strike before returning to work a week later.

The municipality said the ultimatum to withdraw the leased trucks was not a legitimate trade union demand, and that Samwu and Imatu stewards failed to address these concerns with the workers involved.

According to the municipality, it can and must use external service providers or equipment where shortfalls exist.

Employees are currently collecting refuse under a status quo agreement.

The municipality insists that it cannot afford to purchase more than one truck every financial year at a cost of roughly R6m each, which should be addressed through the capital budget, which, like the cash flow of the municipality, is already severely overstrained.

Municipal staff were made aware of the dispute details after the court filing was distributed to the entire staff component via email.

Workers have returned to work following the weeklong strike.