Standard, Sasbo ordered to resume talks

Johannesburg - Financial sector union Sasbo and Standard Bank Group [JSE:SBK] were ordered by the Labour Court in Johannesburg on Friday to continue talks on retrenchments at the bank.

Judge Robert LeGrange ordered that the bank provide Sasbo with more information on how the retrenchments would save costs, compared to other alternatives.

The parties also had to meet twice before December 1 to try to reach consensus on the bank's retrenchment of over 1000 permanent employees.

Sasbo had sought an urgent interdict against Standard Bank to stop it firing staff and instead return to consultations on retrenchments.

LeGrange criticised the union for not objecting soon enough to the bank's proposed retrenchments.

However, he said the bank had only partially met the requirements of section 189 of the Labour Relations Act on meaningful consultations with the union, but a proposal made by the bank on Thursday went a long way to fixing this.

Sasbo spokesman Eugene Ebersohn said the union was pleased with the judgment.

"We believe it's a victory for us because the court has told the bank they have to take us seriously... the alternatives we put forward [to retrenchment]," he said outside court.

The two parties on Thursday tried to resolve the matter through talks instead of through court action, but failed to agree.

However, they agreed on some terms of a proposal put forward by Standard Bank.

Sasbo argued before the court on Thursday that the bank had not held "meaningful" consultations with it to find ways to avoid retrenchments, as required by section 189.

The section deals with how retrenchments should be carried out when they are made for operational reasons.

Ebersohn said if talks with the bank failed to save jobs, they could return to court.

"There are still other court processes open to us... but hopefully we'll make significant progress in the next two weeks," he said.

The bank has previously said the retrenchments are necessary for its long-term sustainability.

Sasbo represents 15 400 Standard Bank employees.