The Security Officers and Cleaners Alliance (SOCA) trade union has expressed happiness after meeting with security labour brokering company called Ramalepe Security.
The meeting was held on Monday at the offices of Ramalepe Security offices situated at Hector Peterson bus station in Wonderboom.
Ramalepe Security company has a security contract with the City of Tshwane whereby the City of Tshwane pays salaries of the workers to Ramalepe Security company instead of to security officers directly.
Before the meeting, several SOCA members picketed outside the offices of Ramalepe Security to highlight their plight to the public.
In response to SOCA’s picket outside its offices, Ramalepe Security company officials requested SOCA to send three of its delegates to engage in a meeting with its management inside the company’s offices.
After the meeting with officials of the Ramalepe Security company officials, SOCA Spokesperson Hlengiwe Ngwenya said the following:
“Our picketing was based on the unfair dismissal of security officers working under Ramalepe Security company, shortages in wages paid to workers as well as unfair treatment meted out to security officers.”
She explained that as the union they are happy that Ramalepe Security company has at least sat around the table with them and listened to their grievances.
One of the issues that was agreed upon was that SOCA will be recognised as a union by Ramalepe Security company.
On the issue of late payment of salaries which have shortages, Ngwenya said Ramalepe’s response in this regard was that the City of Tshwane did not pay them (Ramalepe Security company) on time and this led to the company struggling to pay its workers.
According to Ngwenya, Ramalepe admitted that the shortage in the salaries of workers is due to the fact that the company deducts Provident Fund and UIF money from the workers’ salaries.
“Ramalepe Security company said it will pay bonuses backdated to August 2024 and will continue paying bonuses every year from now going forward,” revealed Ngwenya.
“We are still going to sit down with Ramalepe Security company officials regarding what we consider be unfair dismissal of our fellow workers and at the moment charges against them have not been made clear to us because what we are told at the moment is that they engaged in illegal strikes and that the company has opened cases of assault against some of the workers,” explained Ngwenya.
She said as a union they don’t understand these allegations of “assault” as the company has not told them as to what it is that the dismissed workers did for them to be fired.
Ngwenya said the SOCA will appeal against the dismissals at the next sitting that they will hold with Ramalepe Security company.
“Initially, Ramalepe Security company had thought we came to their offices for a fight and that we are hooligans, but now they understand that we are a bona fide trade union that represents outsourced security officers and cleaners working for the City of Tshwane,” she said.
“A full report of our meeting with Ramalepe Security company will be released in due course so that every our members can see what is that was actually agreed upon between us and Ramalepe Security company,” said a jubilant Ngwenya.