On 15 October 2012, Dr W was appointed by the Department of Health as the CEO of
Question:
On 15 October 2012, Dr W was appointed by the Department of Health as the CEO of the Fort England Hospital in Grahamstown, Eastern Cape. The hospital is a state psychiatric hospital that provides mental health care services and houses some 300 patients with mental disorders, some of whom are extremely disturbed and require constant supervision. The hospital is further entrusted with statutory responsibilities to manage South Africa's most difficult and dangerous state patients in its national maximum-security unit.
When Dr W was appointed, the situation at the hospital was, in his words, "an endemic crisis". The system of administration at the hospital was in chaos, many of the staff were often absent from work without approved leave and the staff members at the hospital were taking illegal payments from patients. As a result, the quality of clinical care being delivered at the hospital was greatly concerning and urgent leadership and intervention was required to address the situation.
As a result, Dr. W reviewed various policies that regulated the administration and management of the hospital and implemented various disciplinary action measures. These changes were met with resistance by many staff members who took an attitude of complete defiance of management authority which included:
Unions lead staff on various unprotected strikes and pickets.
Nurses abandoning their workstations and leaving patients unattended during these unprotected strikes;
During the course of these unprotected strikes, the kitchens were locked, and the keys removed, so that the patients could not be fed;
Nurses refusing to take blood samples and dispense medication regularly as required; Shop stewards walking out of meetings and calling Dr W "a dictator";
Nursing staff signing petitions calling for Dr W's resignation for implementing workplace discipline;
Blocking Dr. W's vehicle from entering the hospital and, on one occasion, physically trying to stop him from entering the hospital and fracturing his arm;
Nurses physically removed all the furniture from Dr W's office and placed it in the parking lot and threw heaps of soil onto the furniture;
Shop stewards arming themselves with sticks and surgical implements to intimidate nurses to leave their workstations and telling them that their houses would be burnt down if they did not participate in the unprotected strikes;
Union representatives sent written threats to the hospital HR stating that Dr. W "must leave in a bakkie or they will make the hospital ungovernable and set the administration building alight".
Q.4.1
The unions represented at the hospital were the following:
National Education Health and Allied Workers Union (NEHAWU) - 55% representation.
National Union of Public Service and Allied Workers Union (NUPSAW) - 5% representation
Democratic Nursing Association of South Africa (DENOSA) - 32% representation
Health and Other Services Personnel Trade Union of South Africa (HOSPERSA) and
the Public Servants Association (PSA) - 8% representation.
Q.4.1.1 Explain whether the LRA provides for a legally enforceable duty to (3) bargain.
Q.4.1.2 Describe the type of representation that NEHAWU has. (2)
Q.4.1.3 List the organizational rights that DENOSA has. (3)
Q.4.2.1 | Describe the procedure that would have to be followed for a strike to be protected. | |
Q.4.2.2 | What disciplinary action could have fairly been taken against nurses and hospital staff who participated in these unprotected strikes? |
Q. 4.2.3 Describe the procedure that would have to be followed to implement the (10) disciplinary action identified in Q.4.2.2 above.
South Western Federal Taxation 2015
ISBN: 9781305310810
38th Edition
Authors: William H. Hoffman, William A. Raabe, David M. Maloney, James C. Young