Durban – Newcastle Municipality will on Monday welcome back to work more than 200 employees who were previously dismissed by the municipality.
The mass dismissal of over 200 employees came as a result of a protest action that took place three years ago in the municipality over unpaid overtime.
The workers took the matter to court.
The municipality said in a statement that after it received a legal opinion on the matter which was pending in the Labour Court, it decided to enter into negotiations with the employees’ legal representatives to settle the matter out of court.
This led to the reinstatement of the workers, and they are set to return to work on Monday.
Explaining the decision last month, Newcastle mayor Xolani Dube said: “When we took over the municipality, we made a promise to the people of Newcastle that we would put their needs at the forefront. As the responsible and caring coalition government we could not sit idle and do nothing, while the employees and their families were going hungry.
“This is why we allowed our legal representatives to negotiate a settlement that is best suited for the workers and the municipality, taking (into consideration) the financial constraints that the municipality is experiencing,” said Dube.
As per the settlement agreement which was formally made a court order by the Labour Court, the workers will physically report for duty on Monday, October 3.
The employees will also receive their backpay remuneration of 12 months, in four instalments.
It added that the families of eight workers who had died, would be paid the full settlement amount once-off.
The municipality said 33 employees who were appointed in some of the positions of the dismissed employees are to be retained and will be redeployed to other areas within the municipality.