STRENGTHEN WORKPLACE ORGANISATION, DEEPEN CLASS CONSCIOUSNESS AND ADVANCE INTERNATIONALISM

This bulletin serves as an update to our members in the Technical Vocation Education and Training sector following the meeting of the GPSSBC FETC Bargaining Unit Meeting.

Permanent Appointment of TVET Council Paid Employees

The employer presented a draft collective agreement on the matter, this comes after we took a decision to invoke clause 17 of GPSSBC Governance Rules on dispute resolution to fast-track the permanent absorption of this group of employees. In this regard, a task team was established and will meet before the end of May 2018 to finalize the collective agreement which will ensure the permanent absorption of council paid employees.

Absorption (Section 198) of 204 Employees whose recruitment processes are in doubt according to Colleges and in ring-fencing those who are below REQV 13.

A draft collective agreement was tabled before GPSSBC FETC Bargaining Unit on the 11th April 2018 for consideration. In terms of the collective agreement, 204 staff members will be made permanent as well as those below REQV 13 however they will remain with their current pay notch until such time they acquired a minimum qualification. The employer will assist the affected members with bursaries to upgrade their qualification. The employer indicated that it will take approximately four weeks for them to seek a mandate. An agreement was reached that 12th June 2018 would be the date for signing and implementation of the collective agreement.

Personnel Administration Measures (PAM)

The post provision norms task team's scope has been extended to look at establishing a

relevant PAM for TVET lecturing staff. This will address gaps in the old PAM which was originally designed for schools.

Job Evaluation results: Harmonisation of Information Technology technicians (IT) and other affected categories Condition of Service

The Employer reported that the circular was issued in terms of a progress report, however, they have not received an approval from its principals to release the job evaluation (JE) results and implement the report. The Employer indicated that they are unable to commit to exact dates for implementation though they anticipated that the matter would be finalized by 31 May 2018.

Implementation of PSCBC Resolution 3 of 2009

The employer provided labour with a statistics report detailing the number of members qualifying for grade progression and how they will implement the resolution. However, we discovered that non-persal staff members who migrated in 2015 do not have a service record in persal. We agreed that the employer should issue another circular to colleges to address the matter. Parties also agreed that labour is welcomed to submit additional information that will assist the process of updating service records for staff members in persal through the Bargaining Unit Administrator.

Revision of Salary Structure for TVET Staff

One of the TVET Imbizo outcomes is to revise/develop a new improved market-related remuneration structure suitable for TVET college lecturers and related benefits inclusive of a competitive remuneration structure for qualified artisans serving in the

MAY 2018

TVET COLLEGES COLLECTIVE BARGAINING BULLETIN

STRENGTHEN WORKPLACE ORGANISATION, DEEPEN CLASS CONSCIOUSNESS AND ADVANCE INTERNATIONALISM

public TVET colleges. We tabled the matter for discussion in a chamber meeting convened on the 11th April 2018. The matter was also raised with the Department of Higher Education and Training that experienced staff members are currently resigning because of salaries that are not market-related. The Employer noted the tabling and proposed that the item is incorporated into the PPN document and that it be further discussed in the Task Team meeting that would be convened. We will further engage on the matter at PPN Task Team now that it is officially tabled before the bargaining council. The idea is to come up with a relevant salary structure which will also address grading of campuses and salaries of campus managers.

Regulating or standardising TVET Colleges advertisement bulletins in line with DHET Recruitment and Selection Policy

Labour tabled the matter before the council so t h a t p a r t i e s c a n d i s c u s s c o l l e g e advertisements which are not consistent with DHET Recruitment and Selection policy. We requested the Employer to review the Recruitment and Selection Policy to be aligned with what is required and available profile of our members in the sector. The Employer noted the tabling and accepted the proposal. The Employer indicated that it would have to go through the generic job profiles of the lectures and draft a circular that seeks to standardize the posts of lectures. The Employer also indicated that it was in a process of requesting a special DBC meeting in order to deal with various policies that needed to be reviewed within the Department and that the Recruitment and Selection Policy formed part of those various policies. The Employer further indicated that it would provide Labour with standardized job profiles through the Bargaining Unit Administrator. The Employer

showed that they had already identified gaps in the Policy and that a special DBC meeting would be requested as soon as possible to finalize the Policy.

Regulating Part-time classes in line with other public service institutions of learning

The union tabled the matter and indicated that all 59 colleges were currently applying different policies which created confusion amongst its members. We cited the following scenario:

“ if college A pays R100.00 rate for work done whereas the neighbouring college B pays R150 rate for work done creates an unnecessary conflict amongst staff members in the different colleges.

We requested that this matter should be linked to the PAM document and further proposed that the matter is referred to the Task Team meeting. The Employer noted the tabling and accepted the proposal. The Employer also indicated that the matter would be regulated and standardized in the PAM document. The Employer would provide Labour with a project p l a n t h r o u g h t h e B a r g a i n i n g U n i t Administrator.

Unpaid benefits as a result of a dual pay system

Labour tabled the matter and indicated that staff members who were employed during 2009 were paid through college payroll; however, they did not receive benefits (37% payment in lieu of benefits) whereas their colleagues who were paid through persal received the benefits. The employer noted the tabling and requested an opportunity to investigate the matter and provide labour with a report in the next Bargaining Unit meeting.

MAY 2018

TVET COLLEGES COLLECTIVE BARGAINING BULLETIN

MAY 2018

STRENGTHEN WORKPLACE ORGANISATION, DEEPEN CLASS CONSCIOUSNESS AND ADVANCE INTERNATIONALISM

TVET COLLEGES COLLECTIVE BARGAINING BULLETIN

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Issued by NEHAWU Communications Department56 Marshall Street, Marshall Town P.O. Box 10812, Johannesburg, 2000 Tel: +27 11 833 2902 Fax: +27 11 833 0757

Tel:- 011 833 2902 | Email:- info@nehawu.org.za | Website:- www.nehawu.org.za

Absorption of Top-Up Payments On To Persal

The DHET's initial arrangement was that members were supposed to pay their portion contribution but as labour we rejected the proposal which led the department to accede to our demands. Our view was that members must not be punished for the mistakes created by former employers which were college councils. The DHET has taken a decision to make full payment of all liabilities related to employee and employer shortfalls within the Government Employee Pension Fund (GEPF). This means that staff will no longer need to pay or acknowledge a debt to pay any portion of the top up related pension liabilities going forward. This is a victory to all our members affected by the issue of top-ups. Human Resource circular 2 of 2018 was sent to our members with comprehensive details regarding the implementation plan.

Update on the CET/TVET/SETA program of action.

The national union met with the new Minister of the Department of Higher Education and

Training in relation to the memorandum of demands submitted to the department. The Minister indicated she will respond to the SETA memorandum as the TVET one was never brought to her attention. We expressed disappointed as this was clear indication that the management selectively briefed the Minister. After deliberation on the matter, it was agreed that the union should present the issues contained in the TVET memorandum. The minister responded to most of the issues which we raised through the memorandum. On some of the issues, the minister requested time to investigate them as she is new in this portfolio. We will convene membership and p r o v i n c i a l b a r g a i n i n g m e e t i n g s t o communicate the outcomes of our meeting with the minister.

For further information & clarity contact National Organiser,

Cde Takalani Ratshilumela on 082 455 3003 or at takalani@nehawu.org.za.

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