Ugu reinstates 119 dismissed workers
Ugu mayor Phumlile Mthiyane said the most important thing going forward is working together and improving service delivery in the district.
The Ugu leadership and the South African Municipal Workers Union (SAMWU) chairman, Mthandeni Ngcobo joined hands on Tuesday this week, to welcome and to speak with one voice with the 119 municipal workers who were officially reinstated at work after they were dismissed by the municipality in 2019, for embarking on a strike.
As per the settlement agreement which was made an order of the Labour Court in Durban on October 19, the 119 employees were to be reinstated effective from November 1 and that all these employees should be receiving 12 months’ salary as compensation for lost income as a result of the termination of their employment.
The leadership and Ngcobo agreed that service delivery should be top priority at Ugu in order for communities to receive their basic human right which is water supply.
Ugu mayor Phumlile Mthiyane said that the employees should put behind what has happened as it is now history, despite noting the fact that there will always be some challenges along the way.
“We are here today to officially welcome all the workers back to work and work begins today. From today, we will start working in ensuring that our communities receive service delivery. We also want to admit that when the workers were off work there were service delivery issues as we were short staffed. We are glad to have all of them back and we hope will see things getting done quicker.”
“As we are here today we must unite and work together and let our communities see the difference and say that this is the Ugu District Municipality we know, one that delivers,” emphasised the mayor.
She said that the workers and the union are always welcome to knock on the leadership’s doors if they experience challenges going forward.
Speaking on behalf of the workers, Ngcobo said SAMWU is elated by the fact that the workers have been welcomed back to work.
“Working together as equal stakeholders, both municipal management and labour will ensure that services rendered to residents in the province are not compromised.
“We hope that many municipalities across the province can take away the experiences and maturity in which these engagements were held. It is our wish that this should be emulated by other municipalities. The protection of workers and delivery of service delivery remains the responsibility of both employers and employees,” Ngcobo added.
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