Labour Brokers were used as a "Red Herring".
VC On 15 November 2011 08:05, <[email protected]> wrote: > What going on with Baning of Labour Brokers???? > > Cosatu and its affiliates are all talk n talk in matters of ANC and SACP > but they fail to deal with this one in their hands... > > "There will be a mother of all strikes"- Vavi.... > > Madala > > > > > Sent from my BlackBerryŽ wireless device > ------------------------------ > *From: * Dominic Tweedie <[email protected]> > *Sender: * [email protected] > *Date: *Tue, 15 Nov 2011 07:30:12 +0200 > *To: *<[email protected]> > *ReplyTo: * [email protected] > *Subject: *[YCLSA Discussion] Not only wages but also workplace culture > and productivity must shift; and SA public sector bargaining is utterly > dysfunctional > > > [image: Business Day] > > > *Pragmatic reform of labour legislation needed urgently * > > > *Halton Cheadle, Peter le Roux and Clive Thompson, Business Day, > Johannesburg, 15 November 2011* > > ****THE performance of SA’s labour market and one of its key props, > labour law, are the subject of criticism and for the same reason: dismal > outcomes. The attacks come from left and right, so the prescriptions for > reform run in opposite directions.**** > > ****Earlier this month, Congress of South African Trade Unions general > secretary Zwelinzima Vavi reported to French President Nicolas Sarkozy that > SA is the country with the highest rate of unemployment among middle-income > countries and with the highest rate of inequality in the world. He could > have added that it is blighted by possibly the highest strike rate as well. > **** > > ****For more than 20 years, November has been a time when the three of us > (and some others) have collected our thoughts on the state of labour law > and offered a synopsis to audiences around the country. What has changed in > that time is that the political order and its ensuing legislation have > become legitimate. What has not changed is a lack of consensus on the > formula for productive workplaces.**** > > ****Law is a distinctly secondary force in the making of social outcomes > but it still has an important effect. Given the mixed and even > disappointing results of the 1995 Labour Relations Act (LRA), we have to > keep reconsidering. We have some thoughts, some of which are lofty and > others pragmatic.**** > > ****The 1995 LRA was designed to promote fairness, rationality and a > higher level of co-operation across the labour market, from industry forums > down to individual workplaces. It gives expression to the relevant sections > of the bill of rights and it meets international labour standards. There > can be no doubt that back in the 1990s, the new legislation helped to > stabilise workplace relations: industrial conflict in the second half of > that decade was dramatically down on the first. The National Economic > Development and Labour Council played the role of patrician, providing > policy leadership, all-party cohesion and not a few guides. The Commission > for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration (CCMA) and the Labour Court did > then and continue today to do sterling work in guaranteeing fairness and > rationality, and damp ing down what would otherwise be still higher levels > of discord.**** > > ****Given the state of labour relations and economic performance today, > is it the design of the law that stands exposed? Are its provisions too > rigid, hampering market responsiveness to global and domestic needs? Or is > its orbit too narrow, failing to reach out and protect those in the > informal and atypical employment sectors? Our sense is that it is not the > structure of the law that is wanting (accepting that no law can do > everything anyway). Rather, the stumbling block takes the shape of a lack > of social receptiveness to a key part of the LRA’s scheme, made worse by > the inability of national macroeconomic policies to deliver sustainable, > employment- boosting growth.**** > > ****While the institution of collective bargaining was robustly asserted > in the 1995 LRA, provision was also made for a second channel of industrial > relations. Parties were invited to form workplace forums, platforms to > foster trust and workplace productivity. Collective bargaining and the > dispute resolution structures of the LRA cannot carry the weight of labour > dynamics in this unequal society in the absence of the embrace at least of > the philosophy underlying the second channel.**** > > ****This last observation is linked to another. For so long as employers > and unions see the workplace as simply a site of struggle, South African > business will never be able to prosper domestically or compete > internationally. Whether one is dealing with the public or private sector, > more efficient ways of organising work and delivering goods and services > have to be a priority. If the debate between labour and capital is confined > to the distributive element of collective bargaining, no real progress can > be made.**** > > ****A new social compact is needed for this to be achieved. This cannot > be limited to the top-tier actors; it must reach down to the workplace > leadership as well. It should not be so much a compact in relation to wages > but on workplace culture, productivity and reform.**** > > ****But, away from that grander agenda, several areas of the law deserve > a rethink as well. Let us deal with an area of outright pathology first. SA > cannot afford the level of conflict associated with failed collective > bargaining in the public sector. The consequences for society are not only > expensive, they are fatal. Nor do workers enjoy any net financial gain; > they end up worse off. An end to volatility in this sector is not in sight. > There is, however, a voluntary remedy available until saner perspectives > prevail. The parties should consider agreeing to submit all economic > disputes to arbitration for a respectable period, say three years. The > record out of Canada shows that arbitrated outcomes in the public sector > track negotiated outcomes very closely, but without the costs of industrial > action. While the exercise of power does have an important role to play in > underpinning the bargaining process, for now, in SA, that role has become > utterly dysfunctional.**** > > ****Ireland also offers a suggestion on how better to regulate potential > conflict in public sector bargaining. The parties should be required to > enter into comprehensive agreements regulating all contingencies in the > event of industrial action. This should go much further than a mere set of > picketing rules, covering all the possible consequences of disruption. It > should leave space for the legitimate exercise of power while clamping down > on its illegitimate expressions.**** > > ****Violence in private sector labour relations has also reached new > post-1994 heights. Here, too, there is a need to introduce procedural > obligations that go beyond pro-forma picketing rules. And a case can be > made for the right to industrial action to be open to suspension by the > Labour Court if that action is accompanied by egregious conduct.**** > > ****A second area for pragmatic reform relates to unfair dismissal. Given > a history of arbitrary management decision-making, it was appropriate for > the then Industrial Court to introduce stringent rules in relation to > pre-dismissal hearings in the 1980s. That time has now passed and the > cottage industry associated with predismissal inquiries needs to be closed > down. The CCMA’s imminent Guidelines on Misconduct Arbitrations will > assist, but perhaps the adoption of US arbitrators’ approach of dispensing > with the requirement of all forms of predismissal hearing (at least as a > legal requirement) is what is needed.**** > > ****Third, SA is not dealing merely with a dual labour market but one > that is sliced and diced into multiple segments. Collective bargaining > processes and outcomes need to reflect that diversity. The recent agreement > on a tiered wage structure in the clothing sector represents pioneering and > necessary flexibility in the approach to bargaining.**** > > ****Fourth, the abuse of contract labour does not justify outright > prohibition. The abuses of contract labour can be prevented by appropriate > regulation.**** > > ****Even disgruntled players need to recognise that contract labour is > now ubiquitous and is sometimes a useful feature of labour markets across > the world.**** > > ****However, all of these prescriptions — and other amendments to > legislation that might soon be in the offing — will count for very little > if a broad consensus on the need to transform the workplace culture is not > actively pursued and achieved.**** > > > - ****Cheadle was the principal architect of the 1995 LRA. Le Roux and > Thompson are lawyers who have been engaged in the practice and reform of > labour law since the 1970s. > > > *****From: http://www.businessday.co.za/articles/Content.aspx?id=158666* > > > > > * * > > -- > You are subscribed. 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