NEASA approaching the Labour Court for urgent interdictory relief

INDUSTRY ALERT!
 
YET ANOTHER MEIBC SCHEME …
… RESULTING IN YET ANOTHER URGENT APPLICATION IN THE LABOUR COURT

 
There are no easy answers' but there are simple answers. We must have the courage to do what we know is morally right – Ronald Reagan.

 
Dear Industry Employer
 
Following a Management Committee meeting of the Metal and Engineering Industry Bargaining Council (MEIBC) on 17 September 2014, the MEIBC unlawfully requested the Minister of Labour to extend the July '14 settlement agreement, between Seifsa and trade unions, to employers which are not signatories to that agreement.
 
This resulted in NEASA approaching the Labour Court for urgent interdictory relief on 25 September 2014.
 
The Labour Court, at 16:00 on 25 September 2014, interdicted the MEIBC and its General Secretary from submitting a request to the Minister of Labour to extend the said agreement to non-parties.
 
The MEIBC and its General Secretary were represented in the Labour Court by their attorneys and council on that day (25 September 2014).
 
Although it was not disclosed to the Court or NEASA, the MEIBC and its General Secretary, Mr Thulani Mthiyane, with full knowledge of the proceedings taking place at Court, proceeded to surreptitiously submit the request for the extension of the Seifsa/trade union agreement to the Minister on 25 September 2014 (apparently before 16:00).
 
This illustrates a complete lack of bona fides on the part of the MEIBC and its General Secretary in their dealings with the Labour Court and NEASA.
 
On 8 October 2014, at a Special Management Committee of the MEIBC, another decision was taken to request the Minister to extend the July '14 agreement between Seifsa and the trade unions to non-parties.
 
Since this second imminent extension request suffers from precisely the same defects as the 25 September 2014 request, NEASA, on 23 October 2014, filed a further application to interdict, also on an urgent basis, the MEIBC and its General Secretary from submitting a second request to the Minister of Labour.
 
This second urgent application, together with the first urgent application, will be argued in the Labour Court on 4 November 2014.
 
Thus:-

• the July '14 Seifsa/trade union agreement remains applicable only to the parties who signed that agreement; and

• the lock-out remains valid.

 
We will keep you informed of further developments.
 
Best Regards

Gerhard Papenfus