The labour ministry has brokered a compromise=20 on the stalled Labour Relations Bill,=20 report Eddie Koch and Marion Edmonds
LABOUR Minister Tito Mboweni is set to break the=20 deadlock over the new Labour Relations Bill with a set=20 of compromises that have won broad support from=20 organised labour and also industry on flashpoint issues=20 which have left the parties bitterly divided in recent=20
Tripartite talks between the ministry, unions and=20 employers are taking place to reach rapprochement on=20 the ground-breaking proposals, so that the draft law=20 can be submitted to parliament by the middle of the=20 month — and some commentators are predicting a=20 breakthrough as early as the weekend.=20
After last month’s spate of rolling mass action by=20 disgruntled union members, the labour ministry and a=20 team of advisers, headed by Halton Cheadle, moved=20 rapidly to hammer out a set of concessions to both=20 trade unions and employer organisations on key divisive=20 issues in the draft law.=20
Mboweni held extensive discussions at Cabinet level and=20 with officials from the International Labour=20 Organisation (ILO) over ways of resolving the=20 differences. It appears a broad consensus has already=20 been reached on most of the bill’s flashpoint clauses.
Bobby Godsell, chief negotiator for business in talks=20 on the bill, said it was a “little early” to predict a=20 major breakthrough. “But considerable progress has been=20 made in Cape Town and Johannesburg. The proposals which=20 government put on the table made a real contribution to=20 the progress,” he said.
Cosatu general secretary Sam Shilowa was not available=20 for comment. =20
The Mboweni proposals offer compromises on the key=20 issue of compulsory collective bargaining at industry=20 level. Organised labour has steadfastly demanded that a=20 statutory duty to bargain over wages and conditions of=20 employment be included in the bill, much to the chagrin=20 of employers, and small business in particular.
The new proposals appear to have already defused most=20 of the conflict around other contentious issues. Union=20 demands for a ban on the right of employers to use scab=20 labour during strikes is probably the only major area=20 of conflict that has not been successfully addressed by=20 the ministry’s consensus-seeking process.=20
Issues on the verge of being resolved include union=20 demands for rights to implement closed shops — a=20 system that makes it obligatory for members of a=20 company or industry to join a representative union –=20 and also the heavily debated question of whether=20 companies can lock workers out of the factories as a=20 tactic to ensure compliance with management strategies.
After discussions with officials from the ILO,=20 Mboweni’s advisers confirmed that there is no=20 industrial relations system anywhere in the world that=20 imposes a legal duty on all employers in a sector of=20 the economy to negotiate wages at industrial level –=20 although there is agreement in the Cabinet that the=20 country should have a strengthened system of=20 centralised collective bargaining.
The ministry’s new proposals suggest that trade unions=20 or employer associations representing a significant=20 section of the industry and its workforce can apply for=20 an industrial council — or statutory council — to be=20 set up in industries where such bodies do not currently=20 exist. The ministry’s job will be to establish such a=20 body by consensus, but can do so even if no agreement=20 is reached.
This “statutory council” will then have the right to=20 resolve major disputes in the industry, promote=20 training and education schemes to enhance productivity,=20 set up social welfare funds, and develop proposals on=20 policy and legislation which may affect the industry.
Importantly, the proposals do not prescribe a duty on=20 these councils to bargain over the critical issue of=20 wages and conditions of employment. Employer=20 associations and unions on the statutory council will=20 be able, by agreement after negotiations, to add wage=20 bargaining to the council’s list of duties, thus=20 converting the institution into a fully-fledged=20 industrial bargaining council.
The proposals thus meet the Cabinet’s requirement that=20 centralised systems for industrial relations be=20 strengthened, goes a long way to satisfying union=20 demands for statutory industry-wide councils and, at=20 the same time, satisfies concerns expressed by industry=20 that the law should not impose rigid prescriptions on=20 the collective bargaining process.