Solidarity takes UFS to court over mandatory vaccinations
Trade union Solidarity has launched legal action against the University of the Free State over its mandatory vaccine policy.
The university announced its decision to implement the policy last November, but its plans could be set back by litigation.
Head of legal matters at Solidarity Anton van der Bijl says the union received several complaints from its members at UFS disputing the process.
"We say the policy is unlawful due to the fact that proper risk analysis was not conducted by the university, and we say that we ask for a review of the policy and that the status quo prior the policy be replaced.
"So in essence, what we argue is that prior to any employer instituting a vaccination process, they must a conduct a proper risk analysis based on individual employees in terms of the Occupational Health and Safety Act.
“We say that didn't happen in the University of the Free State, if they did conduct a risk analysis then they would have seen that there is no need to implement such a policy and there's other alternatives prior to committing to such policies," Van der Bijl adds.
Solidarity says the blanket approach to mandatory vaccinations leads to a breach of labour regulations.
Further, the union believes employers are using the policy as an excuse to lay off workers.
"We are not against vaccinations; we are against the blanket approach by employers.
"There might be some exceptional cases where vaccines can be compulsory but in general, if the risk analysis is conducted properly, they will say it's not necessary to implement such a policy."
Van der Bijl says the union is also gunning for other institutions after receiving more than 400 complaints in the past two months from its members.
"We have lodged an urgent application against employer organisation SEEFSA (Small Enterprise Employers of South Africa) - that matter will be heard on the 27th of January and then there are two other cases that will be lodged in the next two weeks.
"It seems it's the in-fashion move by employers to institute such a blanket mandatory vaccination policy," Van der Bijl laments.
The controversial policy has seen many businesses and institutions implement stronger measures to drive the workforce to get vaccinated.
This includes the University of Cape Town, Wits University, Old Mutual and Discovery.
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