There is a whole page on "Red Herring" of Wikipedia at * http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_herring*<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_herring> .
The Wiktionary entry is here: *http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/red_herring*<http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/red_herring> Wikipedia also says "A *red herring<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_herring> * is *a deliberate attempt to divert attention*." And: Red herring (fallacy)<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_herring_(fallacy)>, the informal fallacy of *presenting an argument that may in itself be valid, but does not address the issue in question*. The business of getting people's employment formalised has always been a "core function" of trade unions. This has not changed, and it will remain so after the "Labour Brokers" commotion has died down. VC On 15 November 2011 10:45, <[email protected]> wrote: > ** > I'm lost Cde VC... > > Sent from my BlackBerry® wireless device > ------------------------------ > *From: * Dominic Tweedie <[email protected]> > *Sender: * [email protected] > *Date: *Tue, 15 Nov 2011 08:11:15 +0200 > *To: *<[email protected]> > *ReplyTo: * [email protected] > *Subject: *Re: [YCLSA Discussion] Not only wages but also workplace > culture and productivity must shift; and SA public sector bargaining is > utterly dysfunctional > > > 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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All you have to do is to send an e-mail >> to this address (repeat): [email protected] . >> > > > > -- > The Communist University *Blog* is at: > *http://domza.blogspot.com/*<http://domza.blogspot.com/> > *Mail Subscription*: *http://groups.google.com/group/Communist-University/ > * <http://groups.google.com/group/Communist-University/> > CU Site for *downloads*: * > https://sites.google.com/site/communistuniversity/* > The *CU Africa* blog is at: *http://cuafrica.blogspot.com/* (Subscribe * > here <http://groups.google.com/group/CUAfrica>*) > The *SADTU* PolEd blog is: *http://sadtu-pol-ed.blogspot.com/* (Subscribe > *here <http://groups.google.com/group/sadtu-political-education-forum>*) > The *old CU site* is: http://amadlandawonye.wikispaces.com/ > Subscription/unsubscribing *difficulties*? Mail *[email protected] > * > > -- > You are subscribed. 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<<BusinessDay.gif>>
