Labour unrest as Wits changes contractors

Hundreds of support staff employed by private contractors working at the university are set to protest on campus on Thursday (6 June) over working conditions and threats of retrenchment.

The labour unrest is likely to keep vice-chancellor Adam Habib busy in his first week on the job. Habib said at the weekend Wits was probably the most diverse university on the continent in terms of demography, programmes and ideas, "which makes it a very exciting and challenging place to lead".

Wits outsourced its non-core functions such as cleaning and transport in 2001 as part of a restructuring process seeking greater efficiency. The decision, which saw many Wits staff become employees of outsourced companies, has led to widespread unhappiness over working conditions. Coupled with this is a decision earlier this year by Wits to "rethink" how it contracts externally for on-campus services.

Workers forced to attend interviews

On Wednesday the Wits Workers Solidarity Committee said workers on were "herded" into an urgent meeting with their employers on Monday (3 June) and told "to queue up at the university's services department to be interviewed for the jobs they already have". The committee - made up of staff and students - criticised Wits's handling of the matter, saying employees were handed termination notices, leading to "panic".

Wits is in the process of appointing two new cleaning service providers, having short-listed a number. Wits said part of the selection process included whether the new service providers would employ all employees of existing service providers engaged by the university. It had instructed the companies not to "use the interview process to exclude workers on the grounds of age, union membership or union activity, as such discriminatory practices fall foul of the law and the constitution".

Wits said the university senate would meet on Thursday (6 June) to discuss the demand that no interviews of current employees be required.

Complaints by staff that they were harassed and victimised had led to Wits commissioning an independent report on working conditions in March last year.

The workers' committee said ill-treatment had included staff being forced to use separate entrances, being forbidden from using the toilets they cleaned, were banned from meeting on campus,and faced dismissal for "organising other workers".

The investigation's report, released this year, concluded that Wits had not violated any provisions of the Employment Equity Act, but flagged poor working conditions. Wits management has promised to work with service providers to redress issues.

Source: Business Day via I-Net Bridge