Numsa fingers small employers for owing R37 million on workers’ subscriptions
About 1 400 motor, retail and engineering sector companies owed at least R37 million on union membership and
provident funds weekly subscriptions. The arrear payments also included workers’ weekly contributions for
funeral benefits, workers and employers legislated bargaining council levies.
The National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa (NUMSA) is to institute lawsuit proceedings against the
defaulting employers. Meanwhile, some labour brokers who deducted union membership, funeral and pension
subscriptions, on behalf of some companies, but failed to pay the funds over to the Motor Industry Bargaining
Council (Mibco) were successfully prosecuted and imprisoned.
And, tens of thousands of anguished NUMSA members might not qualify for funeral and pension benefits if they
died because their membership expired due to non-payments, according to NUMSA Wits regional organizer and
Mibco representative, Ellias Kubeka.
“It’s a hellish situation. Some of these companies have defaulted payments after deducting subscriptions from the
workers’ weekly wages since 1998. We believe other employers squandered the funds because of poor
management and some are rogues, meanwhile others were trapped into grave arrear non-payments by their
administrative problems,” he said.
The Commission for Concilliation, Mediation and Arbitration’s (CCMA) flawed system of processing the
collection of workers’ weekly contributions is always overburdened and in most cases reported to be responsible
for administrative blunders. And, the fact that the employers were no longer penalized with jail terms, like
criminals, for failing to forward workers’ wage deductions to the bargaining council caused the situation to
deteriorate. Now that non-compliance has been decriminalized, employers felt less obliged to abide by the labour
laws.
Motor industry employers in the Highveld region, which include Delmas, Standerton, Johannesburg and
surroundings, Vaal and Klerksdorp, owed the union members around R11,5 million, Eastern Cape R3,5million,
Kwazulu-Natal R7 million, Northern region R3,3 million, Western Cape R5,6 million and Free State R6 million.
For many years, these debts by unscrupulous employers have accumulated to extent that they were no longer able
to repay the funds they deducted from workers’ wages, Kubeka said.
NUMSA, in conjunction with labour inspectors from the motor industry bargaining council has launched a
countrywide blitz to force some companies to pay back the arrear subscriptions. “Our investigations also
established that some companies were shut down and resurfaced somewhere with different names to evade our
payment demands,” Kubeka explained.
The union also warned that more bargaining council inspectors would be employed to focus specifically on
workers’ contribution collections next year.
“Another long-term solution to the problem, is to put a number of indebted companies, as a test case, into the
process of de-registration and force them to be liquidated and then pursue individual directors to pay back their
liabilities,” Kubeka said.
The joint NUMSA and bargaining council initiative is in the process of implementation in the Highveld region to
ensure that the companies identified for shut downs devised other means of settling the debts.
End.
Mziwakhe Hlangani, Numsa national information officer
Contact details:- 083 7293374 or 011 6891700
About 1 400 motor, retail and engineering sector companies owed at least R37 million on union membership and
provident funds weekly subscriptions. The arrear payments also included workers’ weekly contributions for
funeral benefits, workers and employers legislated bargaining council levies.
The National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa (NUMSA) is to institute lawsuit proceedings against the
defaulting employers. Meanwhile, some labour brokers who deducted union membership, funeral and pension
subscriptions, on behalf of some companies, but failed to pay the funds over to the Motor Industry Bargaining
Council (Mibco) were successfully prosecuted and imprisoned.
And, tens of thousands of anguished NUMSA members might not qualify for funeral and pension benefits if they
died because their membership expired due to non-payments, according to NUMSA Wits regional organizer and
Mibco representative, Ellias Kubeka.
“It’s a hellish situation. Some of these companies have defaulted payments after deducting subscriptions from the
workers’ weekly wages since 1998. We believe other employers squandered the funds because of poor
management and some are rogues, meanwhile others were trapped into grave arrear non-payments by their
administrative problems,” he said.
The Commission for Concilliation, Mediation and Arbitration’s (CCMA) flawed system of processing the
collection of workers’ weekly contributions is always overburdened and in most cases reported to be responsible
for administrative blunders. And, the fact that the employers were no longer penalized with jail terms, like
criminals, for failing to forward workers’ wage deductions to the bargaining council caused the situation to
deteriorate. Now that non-compliance has been decriminalized, employers felt less obliged to abide by the labour
laws.
Motor industry employers in the Highveld region, which include Delmas, Standerton, Johannesburg and
surroundings, Vaal and Klerksdorp, owed the union members around R11,5 million, Eastern Cape R3,5million,
Kwazulu-Natal R7 million, Northern region R3,3 million, Western Cape R5,6 million and Free State R6 million.
For many years, these debts by unscrupulous employers have accumulated to extent that they were no longer able
to repay the funds they deducted from workers’ wages, Kubeka said.
NUMSA, in conjunction with labour inspectors from the motor industry bargaining council has launched a
countrywide blitz to force some companies to pay back the arrear subscriptions. “Our investigations also
established that some companies were shut down and resurfaced somewhere with different names to evade our
payment demands,” Kubeka explained.
The union also warned that more bargaining council inspectors would be employed to focus specifically on
workers’ contribution collections next year.
“Another long-term solution to the problem, is to put a number of indebted companies, as a test case, into the
process of de-registration and force them to be liquidated and then pursue individual directors to pay back their
liabilities,” Kubeka said.
The joint NUMSA and bargaining council initiative is in the process of implementation in the Highveld region to
ensure that the companies identified for shut downs devised other means of settling the debts.
End.
Mziwakhe Hlangani, Numsa national information officer
Contact details:- 083 7293374 or 011 6891700
About 1 400 motor, retail and engineering sector companies owed at least R37 million on union membership and provident funds weekly subscriptions. The arrear payments also included workers’ weekly contributions for funeral benefits, workers and employers legislated bargaining council levies.
The National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa (NUMSA) is to institute lawsuit proceedings against the defaulting employers. Meanwhile, some labour brokers who deducted union membership, funeral and pension subscriptions, on behalf of some companies, but failed to pay the funds over to the Motor Industry Bargaining Council (Mibco) were successfully prosecuted and imprisoned.
And, tens of thousands of anguished NUMSA members might not qualify for funeral and pension benefits if they died because their membership expired due to non-payments, according to NUMSA Wits regional organizer and Mibco representative, Ellias Kubeka.
“It’s a hellish situation. Some of these companies have defaulted payments after deducting subscriptions from the workers’ weekly wages since 1998. We believe other employers squandered the funds because of poor management and some are rogues, meanwhile others were trapped into grave arrear non-payments by their administrative problems,” he said.
The Commission for Concilliation, Mediation and Arbitration’s (CCMA) flawed system of processing the collection of workers’ weekly contributions is always overburdened and in most cases reported to be responsible for administrative blunders. And, the fact that the employers were no longer penalized with jail terms, like criminals, for failing to forward workers’ wage deductions to the bargaining council caused the situation to deteriorate. Now that non-compliance has been decriminalized, employers felt less obliged to abide by the labour laws.
Motor industry employers in the Highveld region, which include Delmas, Standerton, Johannesburg and surroundings, Vaal and Klerksdorp, owed the union members around R11,5 million, Eastern Cape R3,5million, Kwazulu-Natal R7 million, Northern region R3,3 million, Western Cape R5,6 million and Free State R6 million.
For many years, these debts by unscrupulous employers have accumulated to extent that they were no longer able to repay the funds they deducted from workers’ wages, Kubeka said.
NUMSA, in conjunction with labour inspectors from the motor industry bargaining council has launched a countrywide blitz to force some companies to pay back the arrear subscriptions. “Our investigations also established that some companies were shut down and resurfaced somewhere with different names to evade our payment demands,” Kubeka explained.
The union also warned that more bargaining council inspectors would be employed to focus specifically on workers’ contribution collections next year.
“Another long-term solution to the problem, is to put a number of indebted companies, as a test case, into the process of de-registration and force them to be liquidated and then pursue individual directors to pay back their liabilities,” Kubeka said.
The joint NUMSA and bargaining council initiative is in the process of implementation in the Highveld region to ensure that the companies identified for shut downs devised other means of settling the debts.
Mziwakhe Hlangani, Numsa national information officer
Contact details:- 083 7293374 or 011 6891700