Highveld: Acts of kindness
A bottle jam and a sticker, to most of us this is just another bottle of jam, but this bottle of fig jam was made with so much love and care for someone who is part of Highveld and Vanchem’s lay-off statistics.
A bottle jam and a sticker, to most of us this is just another bottle of jam, but this bottle of fig jam was made with so much love and care for someone who is part of Highveld and Vanchem’s lay-off statistics.
This bottle of jam is one of the inspiring stories that unfolded in Solidarity’s Helping Hand Highveld/Vanchem project this past week.
“Today I received groceries from a pensioner together with R500 tucked in an envelope. Another R400 is put on my table, more groceries are delivered and among it my eyes fall on a bottle of jam.”
“On the bottle is a sticker and in a neat handwriting it is written ‘Fig jam’. In Witbank Hospital an elderly woman folds up a R200 note and places it in our hands. In Edenpark Old Age Home elderly ladies are knitting blankets just in case the cold weather surprises us early. My heart overflows and tears run out of my eyes, our elderly still wants to care for and share,” Ms Annemarie van Heerden from Solidarity’s Helping Hand shared.
In the same breath a group of motorcycle enthusiasts from Witbank Biking Community donated groceries worth R7 000.
eMalahleni has again showed that despite the dirty air, potholes, electricity and water disruptions, the bad audits and high service accounts there are people with good and giving hearts, people who care.
Dwaine Kleingelt is busy offloading the groceries donated by the Witbank Biking Community.
Farmers from Wesselbron in the Freestate also heard the call for help. On March 4 they came to eMalahleni with trucks filled with 22 tonnes of flour, 1 900 litres of Ultra-High Temperature milk, 1 800 eggs and 420 pumpkins.
Solidarity has approached the Labour Court with an urgent application to stop the current retrenchment process embarked upon by Vanchem Vanadium Products. This comes after the company on January 26 had informed its employees that they were being retrenched with immediate effect.
According to Anton van der Bijl, Head of Solidarity’s Labour Court Division, the company has not in any way followed the correct procedures under section 189 of the Labour Relations Act. “The dismissal of our members is procedurally unfair as the company and its business rescue practitioner have not at all engaged substantially with trade unions or employees about the intended retrenchments.
“We are aware of the fact that numerous companies are facing economic and financial challenges. However, we experience daily how companies use this as an excuse to get rid of employees in an unlawful manner, as is the case right now at Vanchem Vanadium,” Van der Bijl said.
If Solidarity’s application against the company and its business rescue practitioner is successful, the company may be ordered to re-employ the employees and to implement all future retrenchment processes in accordance with the Labour Relations Act.
Vanchem Vanadium has 434 employees.
Evraz Highveld Steel and Vanadium closed its doors on Wednesday February 10 leaving 1 753 employees without work.
Solidarity Helping Hand Witbank-branch asked that all donations to the project be delivered to Anjos Property in 16b Stander Street Reyno Rif, Apple Properties in Geringer Street or Erasmus Physiotherapists Inc at 22 Frans Quass Street.
Contact 084 971 0177 for more information.
READ ALSO:
[VIDEO] Highveld closed
Highveld: Workers get retrenchment letters
