{"id":39056,"date":"2024-04-18T16:46:33","date_gmt":"2024-04-18T16:46:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/labour-unions-in-nasty-fight"},"modified":"2024-04-18T17:24:46","modified_gmt":"2024-04-18T17:24:46","slug":"labour-unions-in-nasty-fight","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/labour-unions-in-nasty-fight","title":{"rendered":"Labour unions in nasty fight"},"content":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Lesotho. <\/strong><\/span>TWO trade unions representing workers at Polihali Dam construction site have turned on each other.
\nInstead of fighting for better pay and conditions for members, the Construction, Mining, Quarrying and Allied Workers (CMQ) and the Lesotho Workers Association (LEWA) are locked in a nasty battle that could be linked to a fight over membership.<\/p>\n

CMQ alleges that LEWA officials intimidated its members who wanted to vote for a proposed strike against companies working at Polihali Dam.<\/p>\n

CMQ also accuses LEWA\u2019s secretary general, Hlalefang Seoaholimo, of conflict of interest which it says renders him unable to effectively represent workers in their battles against employers in Polihali.<\/p>\n

CMQ says Seoaholimo is working as a union leader and an employer at the same time. This, CMQ says, is because Seoaholimo\u2019s company, Domino Blasting (Pty) Ltd, has been subcontracted by some companies working at Polihali Dam.<\/p>\n

The allegations of intimidation and conflict of interest are part of the letter that CMQ\u2019s secretary general, Robert Mokhahlane, has written to the Registrar of Trade Unions.<\/p>\n

In that letter, seen by thepost, Mokhahlane pleads with the Registrar of Trade Unions to deregister LEWA over the alleged intimidation and Seoaholimo\u2019s conflict of interest.<\/p>\n

Mokhahlane tells the registrar that because of Seoaholimo\u2019s shareholding in Domino Blasting, LEWA has \u201ccharacteristics of a company, not a trade union\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cAt Polihali Dam construction, there (were) workers who were employed by Domino Blasting Services at various projects,\u201d Mokhahlane alleges.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey (Domino Blasting) have a long list of projects that have references and include some companies involved in the construction of Polihali Dam.\u201d<\/p>\n

Seoaholimo is one of Domino Blasting\u2019s four directors and holds 300 of the 1000 shares in the company.<\/p>\n

Mokhahlane tells the registrar that Seoaholimo cannot claim to be independently fighting for workers\u2019 rights when his company is working with the same companies accused of unfair labour practices in Polihali.<\/p>\n

He also accuses Domino Blasting\u2019s human resource officer, Mpho Kanono, of being conflicted because she is also an official of the United Textile Employees (UNITE).<\/p>\n

\u201cBoth the two officials (Seoaholimo and Kanono) are workers\u2019 representatives within the Wages Advisory Board whereby Hlalefang Seoaholimo is the spokesperson of the workers,\u201d Mokhahlane says.<\/p>\n

Mokhahlane also accuses Seoaholimo of \u201cintimidating workers who will be balloting for a strike action by encouraging LEWA members to observe and identify workers\u201d who would participate.<\/p>\n

He claims that Seoaholimo mocked a CMQ official who was mobilising workers for the strike at the construction site.<\/p>\n

The Labour Code, which the registrar has been asked to invoke, says a union or employers\u2019 organisation may be cancelled by the Labour Court on the registrar\u2019s application.<\/p>\n

Seoaholimo has however vehemently refuted allegations that his company is working at Polihali Dam. He told thepost that CMQ is in a campaign to tarnish his name and that of LEWA because \u201cthey are aware that workers do not want to join their union\u201d.<\/p>\n

He admits that he is a shareholder in Domino Blasting but insists that \u201cas we speak now Domino Blasting does not have a job anywhere in Lesotho\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cCMQ has to provide evidence that a company called Domino Blasting (Pty) Ltd is working and has any employees in Polihali,\u201d Seoaholimo said.<\/p>\n

\u201cDomino Blasting does not even have an office anywhere in the country because it is not working anymore.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThey should identify the people hired by Domino Blasting (Pty) Ltd among workers in Polihali.\u201d<\/p>\n

He said the company has not operated in Lesotho since 2016 when it completed a project. Seoaholimo, however, says he is aware of a South African company with a similar name working in Polihali.<\/p>\n

\u201cI as a person have nothing to do with that company,\u201d Seoaholimo said.<\/p>\n

He said it is true that Mpho Kanono used to work for Domino Blasting back in 2016 when it still had contracts but she has since left because \u201cthe company stopped working\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cMpho Kanono is an official of UNITE and has nothing to do with Domino Blasting at present moment.\u201d<\/p>\n

For More News And Analysis About Lesotho<\/a> Follow Africa-Press<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Lesotho. TWO trade unions representing workers at Polihali Dam construction site have turned on each other. Instead of fighting for better pay and conditions for members, the Construction, Mining, Quarrying and Allied Workers (CMQ) and the Lesotho Workers Association (LEWA) are locked in a nasty battle that could be linked to a fight […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":39055,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,12],"tags":[233,246,245],"class_list":["post-39056","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-policy","tag-africa-press","tag-africa-press-lesotho","tag-lesotho"],"yoast_head":"\nLabour unions in nasty fight - Lesotho<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"TWO trade unions representing workers at Polihali Dam construction site have turned on each other.Instead of fighting f ...\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/labour-unions-in-nasty-fight\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Labour unions in nasty fight\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"TWO trade unions representing workers at Polihali Dam construction site have turned on each other.Instead of fighting f ...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/labour-unions-in-nasty-fight\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Lesotho\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/AfricaPressTunisiaa\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2024-04-18T16:46:33+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2024-04-18T17:24:46+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/sites\/62\/2024\/04\/sm_1713444644.733817.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1660\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1106\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/labour-unions-in-nasty-fight#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/labour-unions-in-nasty-fight\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"cfeditoren\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\"},\"headline\":\"Labour unions in nasty fight\",\"datePublished\":\"2024-04-18T16:46:33+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2024-04-18T17:24:46+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/labour-unions-in-nasty-fight\"},\"wordCount\":678,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/labour-unions-in-nasty-fight#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/sites\/62\/2024\/04\/sm_1713444644.733817.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Africa Press\",\"Africa Press-Lesotho\",\"Lesotho\"],\"articleSection\":[\"all news\",\"policy\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/labour-unions-in-nasty-fight#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/labour-unions-in-nasty-fight\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/labour-unions-in-nasty-fight\",\"name\":\"Labour unions in nasty fight - 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