Jabulani Mathonsi
It’s Workers’ Month in South Africa and the Tertiary Education National Union of South Africa (TENUSA) gathered in the Durban University of Technology to celebrate 20 years of its existence. Unions often represent their members rights and are the gateway between the employee and the employer, especially when there are disputes.
“Trade Unions are to protect every worker’s rights in terms of the Labour Relations Act,” said TENUSA chairperson, Naresh Sentoo.
The union is on the path to growth and in 2018, the DUT branch assisted staff members at Mangosuthu University of Technology (MUT) launch their own. “We want to transform the higher education, we want to make sure there’s no corruption of public funds in public universities,” Sentoo continued.
TENUSA says that they’re also worried about the mental health of their members. “Anytime when staff member is treated unfairly at work, that’s when we step in to help them, and it becomes a bit easier for their cases to be heard if they have lawyers on the side,” said a member who requested to remain anonymous.
While there were speeches, the day was full of celebrations, food and cake was had.
