City maintains its posture on strike status

In a statement issued on Sunday, the City of uMhlathuze has noted, with concern, the ‘public misrepresentation and erroneous interpretation’ of the ruling handed down by the Labour Court in relation to the municipality’s urgent application to interdict the industrial action embarked upon by members of SAMWU.

“The judge struck the matter off the roll solely on the basis of lack of urgency, and did not pronounce on the substantive merits of the application.

“Accordingly, the dismissal of the matter on procedural grounds does not, in any manner, validate or render the strike lawful or protected,” reads the statement.

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“It is therefore incorrect and misleading to assert that the city has lost the matter or that the strike has been judicially declared as protected or lawful. The city maintains, and continues to assert, that the strike action is unprotected, unlawful, and in violation of the Labour Relations Act 66 of 1995”.

“The city intends to pursue the matter through the normal legal process to obtain final relief on the merits, including an order declaring the strike unlawful and seeking appropriate sanctions,” said the city.

According to the statement, on 3 July the issues were subjected to conciliation proceedings at the Bargaining Council following SAMWU’s referral. The appointed Commissioner afforded the parties a 30-day period to engage in negotiations.

“The issues in dispute have since been narrowed down to two core matters, which remain the subject of further engagement.

Subsequently, and pursuant to a meeting held on 4 July, the parties reached consensus to suspend the strike action – pending the outcome of negotiations scheduled for Tuesday, 8 July. Consequently, the city wishes to confirm that normal operations and service delivery have resumed,” the statement reads.

It continues to say that the municipality has further activated recovery plans to remediate service delivery backlogs occasioned by the unlawful strike. These include the accelerated deployment of municipal resources to ensure all affected areas are adequately serviced.

“The city regrets the inconvenience and disruption caused to residents and remains committed to restoring full municipal functionality within the shortest possible timeframe. All necessary legal and operational measures will continue to be pursued to protect the rights of the city, its employees, and the broader public,” the statement concludes.

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