Workers complain about their human rights

ANNA MAJAVU

BLACK staff working at the Centre for the Study of Violence and Reconciliation yesterday protested outside their offices against the dismissal of eight of their colleagues

The group of about 15 members of the National Education, Health and Allied Workers Union have been protesting every lunch time for the past three weeks over alleged human rights abuses by the organisation's management.

"One cannot help but ask whether this organisation has the moral right to do human rights work if it cannot respect the human rights of their own employees," one of the protesters wrote on social networking site Facebook.

In the statement titled Black man, you are on your own - working at the CSVR, the group complained that the eight were axed because management had not secured enough funding.

Managers were reportedly alerted 18 months ago to staff concerns about the financial wellbeing of the organisation.

Staff even offered not to take their annual increase and instead use this money to hire a fundraiser, the Facebook post says.

"This offer was refused by management. This was not the first of management's lapses in judgment," it says.

Four CSVR staff members confirmed to Sowetan that the Facebook statement was accurate.


(2011-3-15/Sowetan LIVE)