Mashgichim form association to improve working conditions

JORDAN MOSHE

The group of about 40 mashgichim insisted the action was necessary after the Johannesburg Kashrut Department reportedly refused to engage with them. Organisers believe that before the week is out, they will have at least 50% of the mashgichim in Gauteng on their books.

The association will fall under the auspices of South Africa’s oldest trade union, the UASA (formerly known as the United Association of South Africa).

At the launch, the mashgichim discussed strategies, including a move to formalise contracts of employment and secure their rights as professionals.

With the support and guidance of Dr Ivor Blumenthal, the former chief executive of the Services Sector Education and Training Authority (SETA), the association will also have legal representation, lending further credibility to its standing in the community.

In spite of the crucial role they play in maintaining kashrut standards at kosher establishments and events in our community, mashgichim say that no support is forthcoming from the Kashrut Department, motivating the formation of an association.

“We are the foot soldiers of kashrut on the ground,” said one mashgiach. “However, we are treated with a lack of respect and undermined repeatedly. This needs to change.”

They say the lackadaisical fashion in which they are treated imperils the standards of kashrut in the community. Said one, “When we bring issues regarding kashrut to the attention of the department, we often receive late responses or are ignored.

“It is essential that there is constant communication regarding kashrut, and that the necessary infrastructure for prompt response is built. We have the right to demand answers, but are regarded as a fly on the wall when we share our problems with them.”

According to Blumenthal, attempts by mashgichim to engage with the department to co-ordinate efforts on matters of kashrut have been repeatedly turned down.

“We approached it and asked if it would work with us to address the problem,” he said. “It rejected any proposals of co-ordinated engagement. It said we would need a union to get what we wanted, and we’ve now met its criteria. We are not going to war, but are pressing for the rights of people who serve the community.

“The formation of this association achieves two things. First, it establishes labour standards that must be adhered to in employing a mashgiach, regularising employment. Second, it will implement standards of engagement, and ensure that issues can be addressed effectively.”

Blumenthal says that while some mashgichim have worked in the field for more than 20 years, the department refuses to recognise them as employees, and continues to treat them as casual labour.

“You are collectively regarded as passé, rachmonis (pity) cases,” he said to those present. “The department considers you replaceable with its own employees. You will be targeted, and need to ask yourselves if you are prepared to form a collective to take responsibility for one another and protect your livelihood.”

He went on to say: “A mashgiach is an auditor deployed on behalf of the community. The community and its rabbis know how important this role is. The Kashrut Department acts as an intermediary between mashgichim and the community, and as it is immature about the issue, we won’t deal with it but with the community directly.

“The resistance of the Kashrut Department has been broken because we have met its union criteria. It is time to for things to change.”

The association said it had approached various rabbis to garner support for its cause, among them Yossi Chaikin. They are supportive, with some saying that it is only right that they should be satisfied with their working conditions.

Although he would not comment on the alliance with a trade union, Chaikin, the chairperson of the Rabbinical Association of South Africa, said that he supported the mashgichim.

“The mashgichim of our community need to be happy and well treated,” he said. “We need to recognise that they are at the forefront of kashrut issues in our community. They are at the coalface of kashrut, and do important work.”

The managing director of the Beth Din’s Kosher Department, Rabbi Dovi Goldstein, said the Beth Din had engaged extensively with individuals and groups of mashgichim, as stated in its report released this week. (See story on page 4)

“The Beth Din Kosher Department is committed to working closely with and listening to our mashgichim who are such a core part of the kosher system,” he said.