22 January 2014
Terry Bell is a regular contributor to GroundUp. In addition to occasionally writing original material for first publication on GroundUp, he also kindly allows us to republish his Business Report column.
Terry has been writing his Inside Labour for Business Report for 18 years. He sent us this email:
The Inside Labour column in Business Report may be no more. In a unilateral decision, the column and the annual cycle of this contribution, scheduled to start this Friday in the Pretoria News, Johannesburg Star, KZN Mercury and Cape Times has been put on indefinite hold while a “recalibration process” by the new management is underway. Although I was commissioned (in the same way it has been done for 18 years) to submit the first of the year’s columns for this Friday I have been informed by the editor that “the Inside Labor column is on hold until further notice. So I do not expect any column from you until I advise you otherwise”.
I have informed the editor and, via him, the putative new owner, that I consider the actions taken to constitute an abrogation of my long-term contract and that this probably amounts to a situation of unfair dismissal. Watch this space.
Tonight we also publish the Inside Labour column by Terry that he intended be submit to Business Report this week.