NUMSA CONDEMNS DIE VEILING PUB AND GRILL FOR NON PAYMENT OF SALARIES AND DEHUMANISING TREATMENT OF WORKERS

NUMSA National spokesperson Phakamile Hlubi- Majola

By Phakamile Hlubi-Majola
NUMSA National Spokesperson

The National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa (NUMSA) in the Sedibeng region condemns the vulgar and barbaric behaviour of the management of Die Veiling Pub and Grill establishment.

The management of Die Veiling have refused to pay workers their salaries, for simply exercising their constitutional right to join NUMSA.

On the 23rd of December 2025, the employer deliberately withheld salary payments to all NUMSA members while paying, non-members.

They are using wage discretion as a weapon of class warfare and a tacit strategy to undermine collective organization.

This act by Die Veiling Pub and Grill is a gross violation of workers’ fundamental rights, as enshrined in the Bill of Rights and it is an assault on the struggle for economic justice.

These workers were exercising their constitutional right to freedom of association by joining NUMSA.

The employer responded with intimidation and discrimination.

To make matters worse, the management representative further compounded this oppression by issuing a section 189 notice to outsource the positions of the cleaners, the majority of whom are NUMSA members, in order to dismantle unionised labour and deepen the exploitation of the working class.

The affected workers are compelled to clean bathrooms contaminated with human waste without proper personal protective equipment (PPE) and masks.

They are expected to handle filthy dustbins, and forced to endure sub-human conditions that expose them to disease and sickness.

These conditions are reminiscent of Apartheid-era super exploitation and it demonstrates the employer’s total disregard for workers’ health and dignity.

The employer’s decision is a calculated tactic to humiliate and ill-treat employees who are organized, by treating them like modern-day slaves who are denied the right to voice grievances.

In response, NUMSA will organize a picket at Die Veiling Pub and Grill in Sasolburg to expose this exploitation, mobilize the society, the community and the broader working class in order to demand an end to anti-union discrimination, and unsafe labour practices.

NUMSA calls on the labour movement and progressive civil society and all class-conscious workers to support the struggle against capitalist exploitation and to defend the rights of all workers organize, bargain collectively, and work in safe, dignified conditions.