Strike averted at Quorn after excellent pay deal agreed Strike action at Quorn Foods’s Teesside factory has been called off, after staff accepted what constituted an ‘excellent’ pay deal, according to trade union Unite.
Disgruntled workers at the Billingham factory of Marlow Foods, which trades as Quorn, planned a series of ‘discontinuous strikes’ between 5–13 February and continuous strike action from 14 February. The move followed what trade union Unite called a ‘paltry’ pay offer.
Unite claimed the pay offer – an increase of 2% – did not reflect workers’ efforts to keep production flowing during the pandemic or the company’s current financial performance. Annual sales were up 4.6% to £229.6m in its most recent results.
The Zimbabwe Independent
Kudzai Kuwaza
THE 2021 wage negotiations across various sectors of the economy have been characterised by deadlocks and delays amid revelations that some employers have maintained a minimum wage of ZW$2 500 (US$30) that was imposed by the government in 2020.
This comes at a time when prices of basic commodities have skyrocketed worsened by a wave of increases in tariffs by the government. Inflation for January shot to just over 360%.
Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions secretary general Japhet Moyo painted a grim picture of the challenges within the various national employment councils (NECs).
“It’s a gloomy picture. It’s not a good situation at all,” Moyo said.
In his 2020 State of the Nation Address (Sona), President Cyril Ramaphosa announced R1.4-billion would be spent on fixing the Central Line corridor in Cape Town. But, one year later, the Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa (Prasa) has not yet spent the money.
“The budget allocated to the Central Line Recovery Programme has not been spent due to, amongst other reasons, the Covid-19 pandemic and lockdown as well as internal Prasa capacity challenges,” said the acting general manager for corporate affairs at Prasa, Bane Ndlovu.
At the time, Ramaphosa said R1.4-billion each would be given to the Mabopane Line in Gauteng and the Central Line.
The Civil Servants and Allied Workers Union of Zambia (CSAWUZ) has hailed President Edgar Lungu for appointing five seasoned civil servants to positions of Permanent Secretaries.
CSAWUZ president Davy Chiyobe said in statement to the media that the appointment of five civil servants, out of the seven newly appointed Permanent Secretaries, is a recognition of the hard work of the officers.
Mr. Chiyobe said the union is confident that the officers will carry out their assignments well because they have risen through the ranks and understand the civil service well.
He said the union looks forward to the permanent secretaries, who are the administrative heads of ministries and provinces, to be permanent as their careers as civil servants have tenured beyond the life of any particular government.
MONEYWEB
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Trade unions attach municipality assets over outstanding pay and benefits
Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality says it wants its trucks back and will settle the bill, while government steps in to save Kopanongâs assets being auctioned by municipal workers union. 13:49
Port Elizabeth. Image: Shutterstock
The Democratic Municipal and Allied Workers Union of South Africa (Demawusa) last week attached assets belonging to the Nelson Mandela Bay municipality over an outstanding R8.8 million in pay owed to 36 workers.
The outstanding payment dates back to 2015 for the workers who were insourced immediately after the Labour Relations Act amendments, which require temporary workers to be permanently placed after three months.