Solidarity opposes insurers' appeal

Johannesburg - Trade union Solidarity warned on Tuesday that it would oppose any steps by financial services groups Momentum and Metropolitan Holdings [JSE:MET] to appeal against the competition tribunal's prescribed two-year moratorium on retrenchments, which was set as a condition for the merger of these two companies.

Solidarity and Momentum are meeting on Tuesday to discuss the impact of the planned merger on the workforce of Momentum and Metropolitan.

"Solidarity welcomes the tribunal's ruling. It created a strong precedent that will discourage companies that are considering similar transactions from taking the easy route of retrenchment," said Solidarity spokesperson Marius Croucamp.

"Retrenchments must always be the last resort, and in this case we suspect that profits will be boosted at the expense of the employees," he said.

Solidarity represents members at both Metropolitan and Momentum.