New Submission

Product / Service Provider Name: National Union of Mineworkers
Subject: Misrepresentation during retrenchment and refusing with the information.
Description: I was working for the Mine as an Administration HR Receptionist and i was a member of this union NUM.This union had a collective agreement with the employer and that agreement specified the job categories that were to be represented by this union. This union has been negotiating salary increases for the categories determined in the collective agreement and i never benefited because my category was outside those specified and was higher, and i was not the only.
Last year in August the employer retrenched some employees and i was one of them out of +- 10 and 3 of us belonged to outside categories and i was the only one out of 3 who was the member of this union and we were never informed of any process by either the employer or the union that there were discussions about our retrenchments until on the 30th August 2010, when the HR manager called all HR staff and informed us that management has finished with consultation with NUM on retrenchments and those who are unlucky will be informed soon.On the 2nd September 2010, i was called by one of the Senior HR Practitioners and the IR Practitioner and told me that management has taken the decision to retrenched me because my job has been redundant. I was shocked but asked why am i not taken for blasting because management was going to take some employees for that training or the contractor who was doing CCTV be relieved and i be given the opportunity. I was told that management and the NU!
M has agreed and nothing that can be discussed with me and i must signed there and there not i will not be allowed to appeal my retrenchment and be allowed to go for a job interview in another department. I signed and appealed and went for the job interview although i never received any reply to both to this day.
I approach the NUM and asked them about representing me without my concerned and they told me that they were not representing me but those falling under the categories of the collective agreement.
I took the company to CCMA until Labour Court and as we speak now, i am waiting for the trial date and the lawyer representing me requested me to get a copy of the collective agreement that existed when i was retrenched and NUM is saying i cannot get a copy because it is the confidential document between the company and the union.
- They represented me without my authority.
- They now refusing me an access to the document that was signed for members of the union.
i want to know who's interests were they serving when they consulted and agreed on terminating my work contract and who's interests are they serving when they refusing me the copy of the collective agreement when i was a member when they agreed to terminate my contract?
I wrote a letter to their regional office for their assistance even after being retrenched but they did not respond to me as they also not responding even now.
I believe i am a consumer here and they failed and still failing to provide the service as promised.
Submitted By (Submission ID): Jabulile Wendy Letsoalo from South Africa (53714940)