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Solidarity says they will not accept retrenchments at the parastatal, Denel, to affect only the lowest level of workers and will ask the company to retrench across the spectrum of employees.
The union says retrenchments at two divisions of Denel, Denel Aviation (DA) and Denel Saab Aerostructures (DSA), are in full swing. It says the majority of the roughly 50 employees will already have been retrenched by DA by 9 October and nearly 180 employees, or about 30% of DSA’s labour force, are still facing retrenchment.
“This is the third wave of retrenchments in only 26 months and the second wave this year. Denel has received capital injections of about R5.3 billion from government since 2006. DSA’s loss of R328 billion can mainly be attributed to poor management. The ongoing retrenchment processes are evidence of this. Unfortunately, employees will now have to pay the price,” said Dirk Hermann, deputy general secretary of Solidarity.
The union is meeting with Denel management today and further meetings are scheduled for the rest of the month.
Jack Loggenberg, a Solidarity spokesperson, says the union wants to know what percentage of workers will lose their jobs: “We will then ask that this percentage be implemented across the board; not just at the lowest level of employees.”
Denel could not be reached for comment on the matter, but they say they will release a statement on the matter.
