Solidarity to report Angloplat
Thu, 17 Apr 2008
Solidarity plans to lodge a complaint with the SA Human Rights Commission (SAHRC) over a blacklist of workers allegedly established by Anglo Platinum, the trade union announced on Wednesday.
In a statement Solidarity said "it had become known" that Anglo Platinum maintained a blacklist of names of dismissed workers, which made it impossible for them to be employed by another mine in the group or by contractors to the company.
Head of Solidarity's legal department, Nic Arnold, said the union would invoke the Constitution to prove that the company was guilty of an unfair practice.
Referring to section 22 and 23(1) of the Constitution, Arnold said it was the union's view that Anglo Platinum was violating the Constitutional rights of the people on its blacklist.
The sections refer to the right of every citizen to freely choose their trade and an entitlement to fair labour practices.
Solidarity was also investigating allegations that other Anglo American affiliates followed similar practices.
"We plan to bring the charge on behalf of a group of our members who have been negatively affected by this practice," said Arnold.
"It is our contention that the employer's authority over the employee stands only to termination of service and that employers cannot cause harm to employees beyond termination.
"Dismissal is, in itself, a punishment and employers cannot be allowed to punish persons for an indefinite period," he said.
Arnold said employees in most dismissals were not found guilty in a court of law but in an internal disciplinary hearing at which the presiding officer frequently did not have any legal training.
He said criminal law had two principal focus points, rehabilitation and retaliation.
Although workers were not necessarily found guilty in terms of criminal law, Arnold said the ambit of labour law was being approached and the rehabilitation theory still applied.
"The fact that Anglo Platinum blacklists former employees certainly tends towards retaliation, rather than rehabilitation," he said.
The union said it would lodge a complaint with the SAHRC within days and was also considering approaching the Labour Court for a declaratory order.
"We regard this as a watershed case, and if the employer's actions are condemned by the HRC it will send a clear message to other employers," said Arnold.
Anglo Platinum was not immediately available for comment.
