Cosatu slams Motus retrenchments as ‘heartless’ attack on workers and labour laws

South Africa is rich with potential despite our many socio-economic challenges, in particular dangerously high levels of unemployment, poverty and inequality. Our single greatest obstacle is our 42.4% unemployment rate. When so many struggle to find work, we cannot afford to see a single worker lose their job.

Employers must be sensitive to the high levels of indebtedness that most workers find themselves in, the many unemployed relatives they support and the rising costs of living. The motor industry is an important pillar of South Africa’s industrial and retail sectors, employing thousands and nurturing important value chains.The motor manufacturing sector is the backbone of the economy in key industrial towns from Gqeberha to Buffalo City in the Eastern Cape, to Tshwane and Ekurhuleni in Gauteng and eThekwini and Richards Bay and KwaZulu-Natal. It supports the motor retail sector across our towns and cities with more than 100 000 employees.

The Congress of South Africa Trade Unions (Cosatu) has been deeply alarmed by December reports that Motus, a major retailer, with several international franchises in its fold, retrenched over 80 employees and plans to cut over 900 staff members’ salaries by up to 30%! Whilst Motus’ management views these workers as mere statistics to be dispensed with, these retrenchments and salary cuts are devastating news for these hardworking staff who have given their sweat to grow this thriving company and sector.

Retrenching staff over Christmas speaks volumes about a corporate South Africa that only values balance sheets and fails to appreciate employees as human beings with responsibilities and families to take care of, and who will struggle to find work in an economy barely growing at 1.3%.

Motus’ announcement of retrenchments and salary cuts falls foul of the Labour Relations Act’s requirements. It is tragically a story that affects thousands of workers across workplaces. Several issues in Motus’ actions fail the test of logic. One would assume that retrenchments and salary cuts for so many would be because the company is in severe financial crisis and has no choice but to impose painful cuts to survive.

A cursory glance at Motus’ financial statements paints a very different picture. It’s reported that in the last financial year Motus saw a 1% growth in profits to a massive R2.5 billion. Whilst some of Motus’ franchises are posting losses, a simple and humane alternative to such painful retrenchments would be to redeploy stuff across the Motus group where franchises not experiencing such losses could absorb the affected staff.

A key tenant of South Africa’s hard-won labour market dispensation is the legal obligation set out in the Labour Relations Act for employers to meaningfully engage workers and their unions on alternatives to retrenchments. This is not a tick box but a fundamental requirement set in law. We do not believe this happened in any meaningful way. This is something that workers and unions must challenge.

Weeks after retrenching over 80 workers during Christmas, Motus has now published a jobs advert for young workers under government’s Youth Employment Service (YES) programme. YES is a progressive initiative by government with the private sector to give young people a path to enter the labour market and gain the experience, skills and confidence needed to find permanent employment. It beggars belief that in December Motus said it needs to retrench staff and a month later it replaces them with a youth internship programme. This is a blatant abuse of the YES programme and is nothing short of dismissing older workers for cheaper young workers. This is something that Cosatu has warned government about previously.

Motus seemingly believes that only junior staff must pay the price with management left untouched. Sacrifices must be shared by all and start with well-paid management and shareholders. We have been amazed by reports that the CEO of Motus was paid R35 million last year. It is beyond shameful that the path to cutting expenses is sought by pickpocketing junior staff living paycheck to paycheck.

The apartheid wage gap is a shame affecting not only Motus but exists across the private sector, from the mines to the banks, the retail sector and insurance companies. CEOs demand multi-million packages whilst paying their workers a pittance. When there’s a need to cut, the bill is dumped upon those who earn the least.

Corporate SA, including Motus, fail to appreciate that their greatest asset is their workers. Treat them well, pay a living wage, protect their salaries from inflation, ensure job security and reward good performance, and productivity will gallop. Treat workers like expendable cargo that can be dumped to make balance sheets look pretty, and company performance will plummet with staff demoralised and skilled personnel leaving for greener pastures.The crisis at Motus raises another burning matter for workers.

The Public Investment Corporation (PIC) which invests on behalf of workers’ pension, unemployment and injury on duty insurance funds, is the largest shareholder in Motus. Workers’ funds cannot be used to pay CEOs massive packages whilst sending poorly paid junior staff to the unemployment queue and slashing others’ wages. The PIC, like other funds investing on behalf of workers, needs to intervene in such cases and ensure that the companies where they invest are guided by ethical standards and abide by our labour laws, respect the rights of workers and go the extra mile to avoid retrenchments and salary cuts.

This is an urgent and frank conversation that Cosatu will be having with the PIC. Motus needs to engage with the unions in good faith to find progressive solutions to save jobs and protect workers’ salaries. Longer term solutions to nurture and grow the motor manufacturing and retail sector, and protect it from cheap imports, must be found through the industrial master plan. Cosatu will ramp up its support for the affected workers and their unions, the Motor Industry Staff Association (MISA), the National Union of Metalworkers (NUMSA) and the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM). This is a fight workers must win.

Cosatu General Secretary Solly Phetoe

*** The views expressed here do not necessarily represent those of Independent Media or IOL.

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