Labour Court rules in favour of Tshwane's withholding of striking workers' wages
The City of Tshwane has welcomed a Labour Court ruling which upheld its decision to withhold the salaries of over 300 striking employees.
The court case related to a decision the city took in August amid a labour dispute with the the South African Municipal Workers Union (Samwu) and the Independent Municipal and Allied Trade Union (Imatu).
It withheld the salaries of 319 of its employees for engaging in what it has called an illegal strike.
Workers downed tools at the end of July in what the city deemed to be an unprotected strike.
Imatu subsequently turned to the courts in an effort to force the municipality to reverse the decision, saying the withholding of salaries was unconstitutional.
"Furthermore, they argued that the dismissal of their members was unfair, where they held dual membership with another trade union SAMWU, whose members were dismissed for
participating in the unlawful and unprotected strike, which began in late July," said the city's spokesperson Selby Bokaba.
" The court dismissed all Imatu’s three prayers but stopped short of granting a cost order against them. Imatu had always insisted that their members were not involved in the strike."
At the end of July, the Labour Court granted the city an urgent interim interdict against its striking employees and declared the strike unlawful and unprotected.
Last week, court made the interim order permanent.
