Sasbo, a union representing about 73,000 members in the finance sector, has vowed to fight Standard Bank, which allegedly fired employees who didn’t comply with its mandatory Covid-19 vaccination policy.
Sasbo has demanded that the bank cancel its vaccine mandate, which it says required all staff to be vaccinated against Covid-19 by April 4 2022 or face dismissal. The union said it is aware of at least 40 Standard Bank employees, all of them Sasbo members, who have been dismissed for refusing to comply with the mandatory vaccination policy.
“We are going to fight back against this policy because we warned Standard Bank during engagements with them to be cautious about vaccine mandates,” Modime Joe Kokela, Sasbo’s general secretary, told Business Day. “But it seems they don’t want to listen to us.”
The bank declined to respond to questions on the alleged firing of unvaccinated employees.
“Standard Bank will not comment on this,” Nkosinathi Msiza, the bank’s head of external communications, said in an e-mailed response.
Sasbo said many other Standard Bank employees who hadn’t complied with its vaccine mandate have been put on special leave, pending the outcome of “incapacity hearings”.
The union has requested that the bank cease incapacity hearings for unvaccinated employees and reinstate those who have been dismissed for not being vaccinated against Covid-19.
“Subsequent to government lifting all protocols related to Covid-19, it seems the bank is adamant to continue with their policy,” Sasbo said on Friday.
Legal opposition to Covid-19 mandates in SA appears to be gaining momentum. Richard Byrne, a senior commissioner at the Commission for Conciliation, Mediation & Arbitration (CCMA), ruled recently that mandatory Covid-19 vaccination policies in the workplace are unlawful.
Employers justified
In his ruling, Byrne said that the dismissal of an employee for refusing to be vaccinated was unfair, and awarded her a full year’s salary as compensation.
Byrne’s ruling is in contrast to at least one earlier CCMA finding that employers were justified in implementing mandatory workplace vaccination. The National Employers Association of SA has stated that it believes mandatory Covid-19 vaccination infringed on the constitutional rights of employees.
Sasbo said it held that its members should be vaccinated against Covid-19, but it is ultimately up to individuals to decide for themselves. For this reason, it will challenge Standard Bank’s dismissal of its members.
“Some employees have been with the bank for almost 40 years and now face dismissal because of a bank policy that should have been recalled,” said Sasbo. “Other employers in the banking and finance industry have already recalled their mandatory vaccination policies.”
Sasbo is also at loggerheads with Standard Bank over the suspension and firing of members implicated in illegitimately activating accounts on behalf of clients without their knowledge to meet aggressive sales targets.
The union has previously accused the bank of duplicity in the dismissals, saying the bank’s senior management had pressured staff into unethical behaviour to meet the sales targets.
With Phathu Luvhengo.
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