NEHAWU members working at the Mpumalanga Tourism and Parks Agency have downed tools.
This after the entity’s management and workers had misunderstandings that emanated from an organogram adopted last year.
They were raising concerns over salary disparities and the filling of senior management positions in the new organogram.
Since Monday, 5 April, the workers have been picketing outside their head offices in Mbombela, leading to tourists visiting nature reserves such as the Blyde River Canyon and Potholes being turned away.
Nehawu provincial secretary Welcome Mnisi told Daily Sun they started raising some of the issues in 2014, but management wasn’t willing to engage.
“The strike emanates from the fact that management hasn’t been in a position to resolve some of the issues raised by Nehawu,” he said.
“These include, among other things, the finalisation of the placement plan that came after we concluded the organisational structure. Instead of finalising that process, management decided to run with the recruitment plan.
“Management is changing the conditions of service for these workers. At any given point they decide to change workers and don’t take into cognisance that they signed contracts after being employed.”
Mnisi said there was complete arrogance from management, and they’d engaged MEC Vusi Mkhatshwa so the issues could be resolved.
“Management doesn’t want to listen to workers and Nehawu. Even if they meet Nehawu, it’s just a formality according to them,” he said.
“It doesn’t resolve the issues raised. This mass action is meant to deal with all these challenges. That’s why the MEC was invited to deal with them, and failing which all nature reserves in Mpumalanga will have a total shutdown.”
Mpumalanga Tourism and Parks Agency CEO Johannes Nobunga said the protest was illegal, but they were willing to engage workers.
He said all operations in the nature reserves had been negatively affected from Monday.
“The gates are closed. That means our patrons can’t have access to our tourists attraction areas. We thought that for once let’s approach this in a non-confrontational manner.
“We’re now in the process of implementing a new organogram, and we’re placing employees from the old to the new.
“There are those employees that are acting in second positions, and according to the placement plan, everybody will be placed in their original position.
“Those acting positions will constitute senior positions, and then be advertised. They will then be opened, even to those who didn’t have the opportunity to act.”
