Eleventh-hour between South Africa's biggest labour federation and major employer organisations have failed to stave off nation-wide protests planned for next week. A top level meeting between the Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu) and the South African Employers' Consultative Committee on Labour Affairs (Saccola) last night deadlocked over union plans to mount three days of peaceful protest against impending changes to labour law and the recent clamp on anti-apartheid organisations.
Saccola, which represents all the major employer organisations in the country, expressed concern that the protests would take the form of a stayway and that this, would escalate the climate of violence. The employers asked Cosatu to call off its plans and consider alternative methods of protesting against the Labour Relations Amendment Bill. Cosatu, stressing it had not prescribed what form the protests would take, responded by demanding undertakings from management that security forces would not be called in and that no victimisation and mass dismissals would take place due to the action.
At a press conference after the meeting, held in Johannesburg's Carlton Hotel, Cosatu general secretary Jay Naidoo told reporters the protest would go on despite the talks. "The Bill is a major roll-back of the rights of workers in this country," he said. "The state's recent actions are not only aimed at the labour movement but at the whole progressive and democratic movement in our country."
Saccola chairman Bobby Godsell said his organisation asked for the meeting to "exchange views about the Bill" and to discuss the protests. He said employers disagreed with the union view that the new labour law would undermine the 10-year-old "Wiehahn" labour reforms. The Carlton talks were held as tension between organised labour and, employers reached an all-time high. This week Cosatu and its former rival, the National Council of Trade Unions (Nactu), reached an unprecedented agreement to coordinate their fight against the Bill. Nactu is due o meet the Saccola delegation at the same venue at 10.30am today.
In the past few weeks thousands of workers in the chemical, retail, mining and metal industries have staged placard demonstrations against the Bill. Cosatu has also written to the International Labour Organisation (ILO) asking it to set up an inquiry into the draft law on the grounds that it violates international standards governing labour relations. As South Africa is not a member of the ILO, the organisation is expected to refer the matter to the United Nations, which could ask Pretoria to allow the ILO to set up a fact-finding and concilition committee 'to intervene. In the past week Cosatu unions have received a spate of letters from employers demanding to know what form of action Cosatu has called for and indicating tough action if union officials call for a stayaway.
At the conference, Naidoo claimed the letters amounted to a warning that employers will sue unions for losses sustained during a stayaway. The response by business to the protest call coincides with widespread raids by security forces on Cosatu offices and meetings. Cosatu has alleged in a press statement that employers are taking advantage of the State of Emergency while claiming to be opposed to apartheid. A Saccola advert placed in newspapers today says the revised version of the Bill currently before parliament deals favourably with most of Cosatu's objections to an earlier draft (see page 7).
But Cosatu lawyer Halton Cheadle said the draft law still entrenched the rights of minority and racially-exclusive unions; effectively banned secondary strikes and repeat strikes on the same issue for a period of 12 months; and allowed employers to delay industrial court judgements by referring them to lengthy appeal court hearings.
At the Carlton talks, Cosatu demanded employers withdraw the adverts to give unions an opportunity to take part in a joint public statement on the issues. The Saccola delegation refused this. Cosatu press officer Frank Meintjies said Saccola's claim that the new draft of the Bill dealt with his federation's objections to it was "either gross cynicism or deceit on the part of management".
This article originally appeared in the Weekly Mail.
