Job security is very important to all staff members. It’s no wonder then that this topic has been on many a staff member’s mind since, on 31 March 2016, everyone received a letter from the vice-chancellor about the implications of the restructuring process at the NWU.

 

It was in particular the part of the letter about possible job losses that might have ruffled a few feathers. However, in the same letter the vice-chancellor was also very clear about the intentions of the restructuring process.

 

“The intention is to achieve operational efficiency and to avoid, as far as reasonably possible, negative impacts on individual employees and job losses,” he said.

 

But why was it necessary to mention possible job losses at all? Well, because job losses during the restructuring process may not be totally avoidable, it was necessary to follow a process which complies with the Labour Relations Act. This process entailed issuing a notice in terms of Section 189A of the Labour Relations Act 66 of 1995 (as amended) to all staff members. (That was part of the letter you received.)

 

After sending you that letter – on that same day, in fact – the vice-chancellor held a media conference where he explained the implementation process and gave some detail of the new structure. You are welcome to listen to extracts from this media conference by clicking here.

 

On 1 April 2016 you also received an email notifying you of the various consultation sessions held on all three campuses. These sessions are intended to advise you of the contents of the notice in terms of Section 189A of the Labour Relations Act. We trust that you have attended or will still attend these sessions.

 

Should you have questions or comments about the implementation of the new structure, you can send them to this email address: NWUSTRUC@nwu.ac.za. You can also click here to visit our strategy review webpage on the NWU intranet.