NUM case struck off the roll

An application by the NUM to stop platinum mining company Lonmin  de-recognising it was struck off the roll by the Labour Court in Johannesburg on Monday.

   

"The matter is struck off the roll for lack of urgency. The applicant is ordered to pay the costs," Judge Rob la Grange said.

   

"NUM did not need to wait until it saw the notices before raising the alarm about the situation. In any event, it could have pressed for notices as soon as it was advised orally of the membership situation at the beginning of April this year," he said.

   

La Grange said he was satisfied that the National Union of Mineworkers' (NUM) predicament was a result of it not exercising its right timeously in 2012, when it was apparent it was losing members at an alarming rate.

   

"It did not need Lonmin to point this out to it, or remind it of  the threat this posed to its majority status.

   

"For this reason the application must ultimately be struck off the roll for lack of urgency, even though it was unlikely to succeed on the merits, if urgency had been established."

   

The NUM wanted the court to stop Lonmin de-recognising it, claiming it had detected irregularities in the transfer of its members to the Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union (Amcu).

   

The NUM stated it had detected that most of the transfer forms had the same membership number, some were not signed, names and surnames were misspelled, and identity numbers used on the forms were non-existent. In some cases workers appeared to have applied for and revoked a stop order, to have union membership fees deducted, in favour of Amcu on the same form.

   

NUM spokesman Lesiba Seshoka said the ruling was a minor setback.

   

"We are meeting at the Commission for Conciliation, Mediation [CCMA], and Arbitration on Wednesday. We knew from last week that the court has no jurisdiction."

   

He said the NUM would speak to its lawyers about what would happen to the offices it occupied at Lonmin's Marikana operations near Rustenburg, North West.

   

The NUM had until Tuesday to recruit more members to retain its majority union status, or vacate its offices. The offices were provided to the majority union at each shaft, while other unions had one central office.

   

The NUM filed an urgent court application on June 27 seeking an extension of the 90-day period prior to de-recognition, pending the outcome of a dispute referred to the CCMA.

   

The union had referred a dispute about the interpretation and application of the recognition agreement with Lonmin to the CCMA.

   

In the referral the NUM claimed Lonmin transferred its members to Amcu in contravention of the recognition agreement, and this led to its membership falling below the required threshold.

   

La Grange said it appeared there was a climate of violence which was unfavourable for normal recruitment practices at Lonmin's Marikana operations.

   

"In an open and democratic society, an employee's choice of union membership should not be a matter of life or death. On the other hand, what is missing from the NUM's application is confirmation by any individual workers of their experience of being  coerced against their will to join the Amcu."

   

He said if workers were forced to join Amcu there could have been more than 40 complaints. This was the number of workers reported to have complained to the NUM that their membership had been moved to Amcu without their consent.

   

Forty-four people were killed during a wage-related strike at Lonmin's mine in Marikana in August last year. Thirty-four of them were shot dead by police on August 16 and 10, including two police officers and two security guards, were killed in the preceding week.

  

-Sapa