Aurora named worst employer of the year in Solidarity awards
Chile heroes, worst boss, good employees also get accolades
Mining company Aurora won Solidarity's worst employer of the year award with honours, the trade union announced today. Solidarity also honoured Murray & Roberts' Chile heroes for their efforts in the rescue of 33 trapped Chilean miners. These awards are part of the trade union's annual awards in the categories of employer incentive award for good performance, employees of the year, worst boss of the year and worst employer of the year. Three special employer prizes were also awarded.
According to deputy general secretary of Solidarity, Gideon du Plessis, the awards are an indication of how companies treated their employees, in particular. Du Plessis stresses that 2010 saw strong competition in all the categories. "Aurora was the obvious choice for worst employer of the year, however," he explained. "This company follows in the footsteps of its predecessor, Pamodzi Gold, and it is apparent that the interests of employees are completely ignored here.
Employees have not received their full wages for almost 10 months. To make matters worse, it has come to light that the company failed to transfer funds for pension or unemployment insurance to the relevant institutions. Employees and their families are suffering tremendously and the company and its management are to blame. There is no doubt that Aurora deserves this award." Other nominees in this category included Standard Bank for embarking on an extensive retrenchment process and the South African Police Service (SAPS) for its discriminatory practices.
Murray & Roberts' Chile heroes won the employees of the year award. "The Murray & Roberts employees who were involved in the rescue effort made both the company and the entire country proud. The company's engineers who worked on the concept and the drill operators whose work was crucial to the trapped miners' survival deserve accolades," Du Plessis said. SAPS members involved in the affirmative action cases and employees involved in the numerous projects that contributed to the success of the 2010 Soccer World Cup were also nominated in this category.
Mining company Simmer & Jack, Anglo American PLC, the Mineworkers' Pension Fund (MPF) and Mogale Alloys were nominated for the employer incentive award for good performance. Anglo American was laurelled in this category for the excellent labour relations that were maintained with trade unions and for sound occupational health and safety practices and initiatives. The award also recognises the pioneering work of the company regarding the tripartite alliance structures in the mining industry.
There were three strong contenders for the title of worst boss of the year. Dr Andile Dyasi, chief executive of Onderstepoort Biologial Products (OBP), Jackie Selebi, former police chief, and Talib Sadik, chief executive of Denel, competed for this award. Selebi was named the worst boss of the year. This award comes after he was found guilty of corruption and fraud and because he did considerable damage to the image of the police service.
Three awards were made in the category of special employers. The Give me Strength award was bestowed on the South African government because of its decision to terminate the subsidy for the PBMR (Pebble Bed Modular Reactor), which led to a huge loss of nuclear experts, as dozens of experts decided to look for greener pastures abroad. The Nose in Another's Business award went to Denel for interfering in wage negotiations at the group's separate entities this year. The Dim Light award went to Eskom for, among other things, wasting of funds.
Statement issued by Ilze Nieuwoudt, Spokesperson: Solidarity, December 9 2010
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