BOPEU, BURS clash
Botswana Public Employees Union (BOPEU) has taken a decision to drag Botswana Unified Revenue Services (BURS) before Industrial Court over revised Organisational realignment project.
In a notice to its members, BOPEU, through is General Secretary, Tshepiso Mbereki, stated this week that the Joint Negotiation and Consultative Committee (JNCC) Union Side representatives have decided to withdraw from the ongoing Joint Staff Engagements related to the BURS Organizational Realignment Project.
He explained that this decision follows the Union’s observation of a unilateral implementation of the Revised Organizational Structure, which occurred prior to the completion of the Joint Staff Engagements process. Mbereki told the members that despite an agreement on October 28, 2024, to conduct Joint Staff Engagements, BURS proceeded to advertise Executive and Senior Management positions in the BURS intranet and the Sunday Standard newspaper issue dated November 10 - 16, 2024, without any prior consultation with the Union. He said this action was deemed abrupt and contrary to the spirit of collaboration expected between the parties.
“In response, an emergency JNCC meeting was convened on November 10 and 11, 2024, to address the Union's concerns regarding the unilateral implementation. The Union requested that the employer withdraw the job advertisements in both the intranet and the Sunday Standard newspaper,” he said in the notice.
Mbereki pointed out that given the unresolved disagreement and the failure of the employer to provide adequate justification for its actions, BOPEU has resolved to exercise its legal rights by filing an urgent application with the Industrial Court.
He added: “the application seeks a court interdiction to halt the implementation of the Revised Organizational Structure until the Joint Staff Engagements process has been concluded. Please note that this decision does not contribute to delays in the realignment project. Rather, it is a necessary step to ensure that the Union’s concerns are meaningfully addressed and that the voices of the members are taken into account during the consultation process.”
The General Secretary further revealed that after extensive deliberations, the parties were unable to reach a consensus, and it was agreed to disagree on the matter of implementing the Revised Organizational Structure before the Joint Staff Engagements were concluded.
He told the members that the Union’s position is that implementing the revised organizational structure prematurely, without considering the feedback and suggestions of Union representatives and members, would undermine the purpose of the engagement process, rendering future discussions meaningless.
Mbereki said, “the Union maintains that proper consultation should occur prior to the implementation of the revised structure to ensure that the Union’s input is adequately reflected in the final decisions where necessary. Management, on the other hand, emphasized the urgency of resourcing critical Executive and Senior Management positions for the Revenue Service, and insisted that the advertised positions should not be withdrawn.”