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The Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration (CCMA) has awarded about R38-million in back-pay to 181 workers who were dismissed from a paint manufacturing company in 2018, and ordered their reinstatement.
The Boksburg company, Luxor Paints, has opposed CCMA commissioner Bonginkosi Zulu’s arbitration ruling of 13 January 2021, and has referred the matter to the Labour Court for review.
Under the Labour Relations Act, a Labour Court review means that the award is still implementable until the court’s decision is made, unless the company approaches the court for an exemption.
According to the CCMA’s ruling, 181 Luxor employees were dismissed after strike action that started on 26 February 2018 and continued until 5 March 2018. The first group of 111 workers were dismissed on 8 March 2018 and the second group of 70 workers were dismissed on 27 July 2018. In both cases the workers were dismissed for alleged misconduct during the protected strike.