LABOUR unions are taking the Eastern Cape government to court for failing to pay certain salary increases to civil servants owed over the last three years. The government has failed to meet all four of its own deadlines to pay the increases. They are now being taken to court for contempt by provincial bargaining chamber labour unions. Amid sporadic unrest caused by a snail’s pace government-wide human resources audit designed to root out “ghost” employees, initially scheduled for a year but which has dragged on for more than two years, hundreds of civil servants stand to lose benefits. Those who have since left the civil service, some even years ago, remain unpaid. National Education Health and Allied Workers Union (Nehawu) representative Monwabisi Jaxa said on Thursday that notice has been served on Bisho for contempt of court after failing to adhere to a Labour Court decision ordering payment by July 31.
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