Insourcing agreement torn-up by management
Mass meeting of TUT workers
HOSTS: #OutsourcingMustFall
DATE: Saturday 20 May 2017
TIME: 09h00
VENUE: Burgers Park, Lilian Ngoyi & Jeff Masemola, Pretoria CBD
TUT management has broken the agreement that they signed with representatives of outsourced cleaners, landscapers, security guards and caterers on 11 February 2016.
It is clear that management never had any intention of honoring the agreement. The clearest sign over the past 15 months of management’s bad faith has been their refusal to convene the “Insourcing Task Team” which would have seen representatives of outsourced workers involved in decision making around the ending of outsourcing. Attempts by workers to co-operate with management to create this forum have hit a brick wall.
Management is determined to deny a voice to low-paid, hard-working and essential workers.
In the past weeks workers became aware that management was prepared to go back on the most fundamental agreement: to end outsourcing and raise wages to at least R5,000 p/m.
- New tenders have been issued for security services. The 700+ security workers, currently under contract with Smada and Mafoko, were expecting to be insourced at the end of June 2017. They now face uncertainty about even keeping their jobs if new contractors bring new workforces.
- The landscapers that were insourced last month have been employed on a wage of R3,800 rather than the agreed R5,000. A number of older landscaping workers have simply not been employed so that TUT can avoid pension liabilities, throwing vulnerable elderly workers into poverty in their twilight years.
- The catering workers currently employed by Capitol Caterers and the cleaners currently employed by Selahle have been left in a precarious position, with their employment rolling over month by month on contracts that long expired, but with no date for insourcing agreed. Workers complain that with such precarious conditions they are unable to obtain credit or plan for their futures.
All of this has been done behind the backs of workers. At no time did TUT ever consult workers about any of this. Outsourced workers remain second class citizens at TUT. Workers remain exploited slaves!
Workers must organise! We must unite! We must prepare to go to the streets! We need to be ready to shut-down TUT!
‘Affordability & sustainability’?
This is TUT’s big lie! They say they can’t afford to insource. But everyone knows that outsourcing costs more than employing workers directly, even on higher wages and full benefits. This is because outsourcing means involving parasitic middle-men who want to make profits from exploiting workers.
Our answer to TUT’s argument is this: we don’t believe you! If you want us to believe you then invite representatives of the workers, with their own advisors and specialists, to make a forensic audit of TUT’s accounts. Workers must see where the money is going. Until TUT takes that step they cannot be believed.
TUT management will try and divide workers and students. They will claim that decent wages for workers must mean higher fees for students. This is another lie! Students have been fighting for free education. Workers must support this struggle. National government must be forced to introduce free education.