The South African Federation of Trade Unions (SAFTU) has called on Educor and its subsidiary institutions, including Damelin, to pay workers their salaries for November and December 2023, so that they can give their families and other dependants a merry Christmas.
Saftu general secretary Zwelinzima Vavi said the union was “utterly disgusted” by Damelin and its sister colleges, ICESA, Lyceum and Central Technical College, for non-payment of salaries to their employees at different campuses across the country.
He said this translated into denying them a merry Christmas.
“This is a kick on the teeth of workers especially when considering that these employees need the money to meet their household spending obligation for the festive season,” Vavi said.
According to Vavi, the colleges have not paid their staff for November and December 2023 wages.
In November 2023, SAFTU released a statement lamenting Damelin’s abuse of workers by not paying them on time consistently for the rest of this year, allegedly unprofessionally handling their grievances and terminating some contracts without following due process.
“Damelin and Educor in general are denying their employees across the different institutions the opportunity of meeting their spending obligations in their varying manifestation by abusing and disregarding their rights. It is effectively denying them and their dependants a merry Christmas,” Vavi said.
While Damelin was allegedly not paying the salaries of their employees - and has not been doing so consistently for the rest of this year - Vavi said Damelin was offering bursaries of up to R1 million on their website for 2024.
“This is a complete irony. How could people who are failing to pay salaries be offering bursaries of up to R1 million? It is our contention that such money must not be used to lure prospective students to register for 2024, but to pay the employees who have already credited these institutions with their labour power,” he said.
IOL