Nine fired mineworkers accused of an illegal picket got their jobs back as the labour court could not determine if they were celebrating an upcoming wedding or were in fact picketing.
Was it an illegal picket or wedding song and dance rehearsal moves?
This was the crucial question before the Johannesburg Labour Court in the case of nine mineworkers who were fired for partaking in an illegal picketing during lunch time.
The workers turned to the court in a bid to get their jobs back and maintained that they were merely rehearsing for their colleague’s upcoming wedding. The dispute was initially referred to the CCMA, but the latter found it lacked jurisdiction to arbitrate the dispute on the basis that it was a strike-related matter and referred it to the labour court.
Labour union Amco, who represented the workers, said their dismissal by the company they had worked for, Fraser Alexander Ltd, was unfair. The company, on the other hand, argued that the employees were dismissed for misconduct in the form of illegal picketing. The workers were busy with work which was sub-contracted to their employer when the drama unfolded.
