ON Tuesday this week, three top executives of National Employment Council (NEC) for the Medical and Allied Industry were arrested for contempt of court after their Supreme Court appeal had been rejected with costs.
The High Court had ruled in July 2024 that some labour organisations should be included in the NEC board to represent the interests of the employers, a ruling which the current management did not embrace.
On Wednesday, NEC stakeholders convened an emergency meeting at their offices in Milton Park which came up with a resolution to dismiss the entire board and change the conflicted law firm which has acted as employee agent yet the lawyer is also a board member.
A lot of people expressed disgruntlement over the way in which NEC is being run.
The NEC for the Medical and Allied Industry is made up of the Medical Professions and Allied Workers Union and the Medical and Allied Employers Association.
The purpose of NEC is to ensure compliance with the Labour Act, collective bargaining agreements and relevant statutes, to prevent and settle disputes, to create harmonious relationships between employers and employees, to train and educate employers and employees on labour issues and to allow relief in cases of operational challenges or exemptions.
Many medical employers have not been compliant with NEC and in essence, there is silent acrimony between the two protagonists with medical employers accusing NEC of siding with employees in times of disputes.
Many employers were terrorised after employees reported them to NEC, despite the claims being bloated and unreasonable and only made to extort money from the employers.
- Chartered Governance and Accountancy Institute, ZRP join hands
- Chartered Governance and Accountancy Institute, ZRP join hands
- Police probe BCC stands deals
- Letter from America: US FBI and DOJ accused of being captured
Keep Reading
Many now believe NEC has failed to respect the industry it serves and its operations seem to be focused more on enforcing payment and collective bargaining agreements entered into with zero or limited consultation with the industry.
The NEC board has not organised any meaningful educational workshops, awareness activities or consultative conferences which should be the norm for a regulatory board serving our country.
We are infuriated by allegations of abuse of NEC funds and self-enrichment practices of the top leadership of the organisation.
There are numerous claims that travelling allowances are paid to members who never travelled and allegations of acquisition of vehicles for a select individuals without approval of the board.
Reports indicate that there was deliberate tampering with computer records and financial information in 2022, which coincided with the re-engagement of an audit team to review the 2019-2021 audit which had discrepancies.
The NEC leadership was elected in 2017 and renewal should have been done in 2022, but nothing has been done to date.
I have conducted a survey on how health employers perceive NEC and it is a pity that almost everyone has lost faith in the organisation which seems to have lost direction.
Members are of the view that an urgent forensic audit be done to look into how finances are being handled, lest there is misappropriation of funds.
No one should be allowed to run a national organisation as if it’s their personal project and decisions should be unanimous and not dictated by one or two so-called powerful individuals, like what has been transpiring at the council.
We hear there are some people in the Labour ministry who are working in cahoots with the leadership and some of them are getting monthly kickbacks from NEC.
Soon, we will avail the information as it comes.
We will not hesitate to name and shame such agents of corruption once our investigations are complete.
We do not have the right NEC in the medical industry at present.
