Numsa welcomes Putco’s decision to halt retrenchments of 214 employees

The National Union of Mineworkers SA (Numsa) on Tuesday 2 March welcomed a decision taken by Putco to halt the retrenchment of more than 200 employees, as initially announced on 4 February 2021.

Putco – a service which operates in Gauteng, Mpumalanga and Limpopo and has a fleet of 1 400 buses transporting more than 210 000 passengers daily – was planning to issue Section 189 notices to 214 employees.

Retrenchments at Putco

Financial mismanagement

Putco, at the time, said it would be forced to lay off workers due to the COVID-19 pandemic. However, Numsa uncovered financial mismanagement and said the planned retrenchments were unnecessary.

According to Media Strategist and Numsa spokesperson, Phakamile Hlubi-Majola, the investigation revealed “at least five companies” whose services could be carried by Putco employees, as opposed to outsourcing the work.

These include mostly maintenance, cleaning, and repairs, and would save on funds in the long-term if carried out by Putco employees. The irregularities were first noted in 2020, but Putco ignored Numsa’s recommendations.

“What we picked up was a lot of wastage on the side of management. Examples, where outsourcing was taking place when you have staff that can do the work and these are things that we raised with them”. 

Phakamile Hlubi-Majola, Numsa spokesperson.

Outdated systems and outsourcing

Other issues included in the report relate to fake tickets (as a result of Putco’s outdated ticketing system which has not been updated since 1947), as well as job rotation and outsourcing, which all added to Putco’s financial troubles.

As reported by Sowetan Live, Numsa has since had a meeting with Putco management, who confirmed that the plans to retrench 214 employees had been scrapped. Numsa said this is a victory for employees and their families.

“As Numsa we have been vindicated. This is a victory for workers and their families. We made submissions during the section 189A consultation to oppose retrenchments because we felt the job cuts were unnecessary”.

Phakamile Hlubi-Majola, Numsa spokesperson.

An example for other companies

Hlubi-Majola added that Putco “acknowledged the [outdated ticket system] is a fundamental weakness, and therefore it will be taking concrete steps to update the ticketing system in order to generate more revenue”.

In addition, the decision to withdraw retrenchments is, according to Hlubi-Majola, “evidence that if companies engage meaningfully with labour during a section 189 process, jobs can be saved”.

“Putco is an example of this and we hope all companies will take heed of this example and engage organised labour in a constructive manner”.