Twenty-eight female guards were unfairly dismissed by a security company because the client‚ Metrorail‚ wanted more men on duty.
Details of their dismissal in 2015 – effectively due to an assumption that women were not good crime-fighters – are revealed in a judgment handed down by the Labour Court in Cape Town
The court found their dismissal by Chuma Security Services was “simply and directly on the grounds of gender”.
The women were employed to protect track boxes and cables belonging to Metrorail‚ the country’s largest provider of passenger and commuter rail services‚ on what is known as the Northern Line Area — the railway line from Old Mutual all the way up to Wellington and Strand in the Western Cape.
The 28 security guards‚ represented by the National Union of Metalworkers of SA (Numsa)‚ took the matter to court after Chuma Security Services dismissed them for “operational requirements”.
“The reasons provided for the dismissal in the termination letters was that Chuma’s client‚ Metrorail‚ had requested Chuma to use more male security guards at their sites‚” said the Labour Court in its ruling‚ delivered last week.
During the hearing‚ Chuma argued that it followed due consultation in its decision to reduce the number of women guards and had consulted with their union‚ the SA Transport and Allied Workers Union. However‚ the security firm was also party to a legitimate agreement with Numsa and avoided the union during the process.
Chuma’s first witness‚ Sithethi Joseph Ngcwangu‚ said that Metrorail raised the issue of increased crime on sites serviced by the company and put this down to the deployment of mostly female security officers.
Ngcwangu said that he initially ignored the request from Metrorail to reduce female security officers because he believed they are good workers. They did not miss work or attend work with hangovers.
Chuma‚ however‚ later started retrenching women security officers.
“Chuma conceded that‚ but for the fact that the applicants were women‚ their employment would not have been terminated. They were dismissed to make way for male security officers‚” said the court ruling.
“The dismissal of the applicants was simply and directly on the grounds of gender. There is no reasonable justification for it‚” the court found.
Their dismissal was found to be automatically unfair and the court ordered Chuma to pay each of the 28 women compensation equivalent to 24 months’ remuneration‚ calculated at R3 200 per month.
– TMG Digital
Security guards get two years’ pay after being fired for being women
Twenty-eight female guards were unfairly dismissed by a security company because the client‚ Metrorail‚ wanted more men on duty.
Details of their dismissal in 2015 – effectively due to an assumption that women were not good crime-fighters – are revealed in a judgment handed down by the Labour Court in Cape Town
The court found their dismissal by Chuma Security Services was “simply and directly on the grounds of gender”.
The women were employed to protect track boxes and cables belonging to Metrorail‚ the country’s largest provider of passenger and commuter rail services‚ on what is known as the Northern Line Area — the railway line from Old Mutual all the way up to Wellington and Strand in the Western Cape.
The 28 security guards‚ represented by the National Union of Metalworkers of SA (Numsa)‚ took the matter to court after Chuma Security Services dismissed them for “operational requirements”.
“The reasons provided for the dismissal in the termination letters was that Chuma’s client‚ Metrorail‚ had requested Chuma to use more male security guards at their sites‚” said the Labour Court in its ruling‚ delivered last week.
During the hearing‚ Chuma argued that it followed due consultation in its decision to reduce the number of women guards and had consulted with their union‚ the SA Transport and Allied Workers Union. However‚ the security firm was also party to a legitimate agreement with Numsa and avoided the union during the process.
Chuma’s first witness‚ Sithethi Joseph Ngcwangu‚ said that Metrorail raised the issue of increased crime on sites serviced by the company and put this down to the deployment of mostly female security officers.
Ngcwangu said that he initially ignored the request from Metrorail to reduce female security officers because he believed they are good workers. They did not miss work or attend work with hangovers.
Chuma‚ however‚ later started retrenching women security officers.
“Chuma conceded that‚ but for the fact that the applicants were women‚ their employment would not have been terminated. They were dismissed to make way for male security officers‚” said the court ruling.
“The dismissal of the applicants was simply and directly on the grounds of gender. There is no reasonable justification for it‚” the court found.
Their dismissal was found to be automatically unfair and the court ordered Chuma to pay each of the 28 women compensation equivalent to 24 months’ remuneration‚ calculated at R3 200 per month.
– TMG Digital
Would you like to comment on this article?
Register (it's quick and free) or sign in now.
Please read our Comment Policy before commenting.
Trending
Latest Videos