Members of the Chemical, Energy, Paper, Printing, Wood and Allied Workers Union are accusing their secretary, Simon Mofokeng, of dodging them, failing to convene national executive committee meetings and dividing the union.
The other bitter battle within Ceppawu is over its investment, worth more than R1-billion.
Union leaders appear to disagree on the shareholding and it has divided the national office bearers.
The NEC members who spoke to Sowetan claimed Mofokeng was avoiding the meetings because he did not want the investment to be discussed. Some union leaders do not wish to allow Mofokeng to take total control of the investment but want NEC members to run the union's finances.
Since its congress last year, the union has failed to hold regular NEC meetings - only two meeting were held.
Attempts to convene a meeting last week failed after members of the NEC were told that Mofokeng had received threats.
According to the correspondence circulated to members of the NEC, the meeting could not take place because of the threats. Part of the circular further states that members of staff in the secretariat's office were threatened with death if they failed to inform workers of the whereabouts of the general secretary (Mofokeng).
Sibongile Myeka, one of the workers who was retrenched from the East Rand Plastics company and who has allegedly been trying in vain to secure a meeting with Mofokeng, disputed claims that Mofokeng had been threatened.
"We demand from him that he should service members. We have not threatened him or anyone else," she said.
Attempts to get comment from Mofokeng were unsuccessful and Sowetan was referred to his deputy, Samuel Seatlholo.
Seatlholo confirmed that the union's NEC had not held meetings regularly and that retrenched workers were becoming restless because of perceptions that they were not properly serviced.
"There are tensions and attempts to hold meetings to iron out differences have failed," said Seatlholo.
But workers retrenched from the company said on Friday that they had been unable to secure an appointment with Mofokeng to get the union to wage a legal battle on their behalf.
Workers and union at odds
Members of the Chemical, Energy, Paper, Printing, Wood and Allied Workers Union are accusing their secretary, Simon Mofokeng, of dodging them, failing to convene national executive committee meetings and dividing the union.
The other bitter battle within Ceppawu is over its investment, worth more than R1-billion.
Union leaders appear to disagree on the shareholding and it has divided the national office bearers.
The NEC members who spoke to Sowetan claimed Mofokeng was avoiding the meetings because he did not want the investment to be discussed. Some union leaders do not wish to allow Mofokeng to take total control of the investment but want NEC members to run the union's finances.
Since its congress last year, the union has failed to hold regular NEC meetings - only two meeting were held.
Attempts to convene a meeting last week failed after members of the NEC were told that Mofokeng had received threats.
According to the correspondence circulated to members of the NEC, the meeting could not take place because of the threats. Part of the circular further states that members of staff in the secretariat's office were threatened with death if they failed to inform workers of the whereabouts of the general secretary (Mofokeng).
Sibongile Myeka, one of the workers who was retrenched from the East Rand Plastics company and who has allegedly been trying in vain to secure a meeting with Mofokeng, disputed claims that Mofokeng had been threatened.
"We demand from him that he should service members. We have not threatened him or anyone else," she said.
Attempts to get comment from Mofokeng were unsuccessful and Sowetan was referred to his deputy, Samuel Seatlholo.
Seatlholo confirmed that the union's NEC had not held meetings regularly and that retrenched workers were becoming restless because of perceptions that they were not properly serviced.
"There are tensions and attempts to hold meetings to iron out differences have failed," said Seatlholo.
But workers retrenched from the company said on Friday that they had been unable to secure an appointment with Mofokeng to get the union to wage a legal battle on their behalf.
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