CWAO IN THE NEWS

"I got to know about CWAO in 2015. I have worked for labour brokers for eight years. We were passed over from one labour broker to another. The CWAO and SWF referred a section 198 case on our behalf as workers. We were fighting to be taken permanent by Kyron laboratories. Our case at CCMA Benoni didn’t go well. We then started to get demoralised and gave up. By 2017, we went back to SWF, we then started afresh and a case was re-referred to the CCMA Johannesburg. We attended our case with comrade Meme and won the case.

SWF means a lot to me, I must say. We have been to many different trade unions that have failed us and took brown envelopes. We were told that because the permanent employees at our workplace are only six in total and labour broker workers are many , it will be highly impossible to win a fight of getting permanent against Kyron Laboratories, but SWF had made that possible.

Through SWF, I know my rights as a worker, and I fight for my rights at work. No employer dares to do wrong by me. Even those who wish to try are always warned not to mess with me because they know I will escalate the matter and involve SWF.

I make sure to tell my bosses whenever I see them doing something wrong. I remember the other day, my supervisor asked if I studied Law. I told him that I didn’t and he then asked how come I am equipped with such rich knowledge. I responded that I got all this knowledge from SWF. Since I joined SWF, every issue that I come across, I inform SWF. SWF doesn’t waste time, the moment I report to them, within a short period of time, an email would be sent to the employer.

An example: one year the company said we will not get salary increases. We tried to negotiate with the employer but were just told to go away. I then contacted SWF who then sent an email to our manager. The manager decided to call us into a meeting after receiving the email . Our manager said we should copy the content of the letter sent by SWF into a new page without the SWF letterhead. It was clear that the letter had shaken him, but he just didn’t want to admit it.

We told him that we won’t re-write what SWF had already put to him; he must just allow the process of salary negotiations. He ended up agreeing with us. In that very same year that they said we won’t get an increase, we got it even though we got it towards the end of the year in November. It was a huge victory for us because we even got back pay from July to October which was paid the following year January.

SWF has helped us a lot at work. I have personally benefitted a lot from SWF. Until this day, my employer knows that I report every workplace issue to SWF. It often gets to a point where my superiors would say, “please don’t report me to SWF’’ whenever they didn’t talk in a good manner with me. I have so much respect for SWF. I once referred two workers whose contract of employment came to an end. Every six months, the company would terminate and then employ new workers on a fixed term contract. SWF assisted them and they were made permanent. As I speak, one of them is still working at Kryon Lab and the other one unfortunately passed on.

Another highlight for me was in mid-2025. I was approached by four workers who were given three month fixed term contracts after every three months. I advised them to seek assistance from SWF because I could tell that the company was avoiding taking them permanently.

SWF referred a case on their behalf, and they won the case and were made permanent.

I always tell my fellow comrades that SWF general meetings are important and we need to attend. We should not go to SWF just to be assisted only and disappear, but we must build our forum.

Currently, we want to demand an increase and we know that with SWF on our side, we are going for a win. Our managers are pleading with us not to involve SWF in the process; they want to engage with us directly. Our employers fear SWF."

Category: CAMPAIGN | SWF 10 YEARS