Numsa seeking legal action over Putco retrenchments
Updated | By Neo Motloung
The National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa (Numsa) believes bus service company Putco should to clean up its act before moving to retrench workers.
Putco announced on Thursday that is in the process of retrenching some 200 employees, blaming the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on its operations for the decision.
Numsa spokesperson Phakamile Hlubi-Majola says the union believes Putco’s financial distress is self-created.
"Late last year Putco served us with a section 189 notice of its intent to retrench employees.
"The consultation period ended on the 22nd of January 2021. During that time, we were able to scrutinise the company’s financials.
"We picked up many examples of mismanagement and wastage and, as a result, we are not convinced that these retrenchments are necessary," says Hlubi-Majola.
She adds that the employees can be reskilled to do maintenance, cleaning and repairs.
"These can all be fulfilled by workers at Putco and it could save millions per year by insourcing this work.”
She says there is also no truth in Putco's claim of a reduction in passenger numbers.
"Putco has an excess of passengers. In fact, they often overload busses, especially at the Marabastad station in Tshwane. We raised this directly with management.
"The problem is that they do not have enough busses on the road, because many of their buses are old and poorly maintained.
"They do not invest in new parts, but often strip old busses in order to find parts to repair their current fleet," she adds.
The union is now seeking legal advice on the way forward.
It also hasn’t ruled out the possibility of a strike by union members.
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