Court says union’s urgent case against mandatory vaccinations can wait

A Gauteng judge has ruled that trade union Solidarity’s case against Small Enterprise Employers of SA (Seesa) is not urgent and ordered them to pay costs.

The union took Seesa to court over its advice to employers to compel their workers to get Covid-19 vaccinations.

On January 19 Solidarity announced it was serving papers on a number of institutions, including the University of the Free State.

Solidarity CEO Dirk Hermann said they were challenging mandatory vaccinations over concern they could be used to exploit workers.

“The SA labour market is faced with huge uncertainty regarding whether employers may compel their employees, or even universities their students, to be vaccinated. As a result, we see dozens of employers exploiting this uncertainty and using it as an excuse to lay off employees without the correct procedures,” he said.

“This situation is exacerbated by our government, which consistently refuses to give clear direction in this regard. Meanwhile, we are seeing employees’ rights and livelihoods being threatened throughout SA.

“It cannot continue like this. We must obtain legal certainty.”

The case against Seesa is the first of these cases, and was heard at the labour court in Johannesburg on January 27.

On Wednesday the court struck Solidarity’s urgent application from the roll and ordered it to pay Seesa’s costs.

Seesa said it welcomed the judgment and would remain “committed to comply with all the directives issued by the department of employment and labour on the assessment and implementation of a mandatory vaccination policy.

“Our main priority remains the health and safety of all our staff and clients.

“Seesa will continue to impartially advise clients according to the relevant directives and legislation, irrespective of their stance on mandatory vaccination.”

Anton van der Bijl, Solidarity's head of legal services, said the union would proceed with the matter on the normal case roll.

“We need clarity from the courts as to how mandatory vaccinations must be dealt with. We deem the mandatory vaccination policy as grossly unfair and unlawful and will proceed with the matter,” he said.

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