Despite the recent strikes, local industrial unrest is on the decline, reports Meshack Mabogoane
Though the latest nurses’ and municipal workers’ strikes have unleashed intense emotions and caused public disturbances, this year’s figures show industrial unrest to be at its lowest in five years.
“The impression of industrial chaos is more a reaction to the unusually low figures for the first half of this year and the high profile nature of the strikes that have occurred during this quarter,” says labour analyst, Andrew Sparks of Andrew Levy and Associates.
Compared to 1992, the peak strike year when more than three-million man-days were lost, the first three-quarters of this year indicate that only 870 000 man-days were lost. The average number of man- days lost over a five year period were 2,6-million.
In the third quarter of this year about 775 000 man-days were lost as compared to a five year average of 1,8-million man-days. The third-quarter figures are of greater significance as this is the period of wage negotiations when the unions show their muscle.
The low level of strike action this year can be attributed to several factors. Politically- motivated and non-wage issue-based strikes have become insignificant. Direct involvement of unions in the anti-apartheid campaigns is something of the past.
The struggle for worker control on the shop floors has abated largely due to deliberations that have led to the new Labour Relations Act that would give workers powers within the work place,” says Sparks. There is also the feeling that the levelling off of strikes is due to a high degree of sophistication and experience by both workers and management which has led to a better handling of grievances, retrenchment procedures and less antagonism between the negotiating parties.
Non-wage disputes account for only four percent of man-days lost while strike action triggered by wages takes up to 93 percent. For 1995 this has been the most outstanding feature of industrial action.
For the first time public sector, and parastatal workers have been at the forefront of wage-related strikes. In contrast to the private sector actions were large and nationwide and continued for a relatively longer period.
The lid has been lifted off these workers since the present government, unlike the previous one, allows public servants to go on strike.
Besides the relatively low wages that nurses, for example, have been receiving, the restriction on public sector increases to less than five percent has meant that they were getting below inflation salary rises.
In contrast, private sector workers’ increases have been settled at 10 to 12 percent in keeping with inflation. Thus the disparity between public and private sectors has widened — leading to toyi- toying by public servants.
Other major factors that helped trigger public sector strike action have been greater expectations of the new government and the poor state of the public sector industrial relations system.
The past restrictions on strike action by public servants is, of course, the main cause of the latter. Nurses have not had a union and the South African Nursing Association, a professional body, made a top down settlement that was rejected. Calls have been made for nurses to form a union.
And there are moves afoot to form a super public- sector union for effective central bargaining. Sources expect the National Education, Health and Allied Workers Union, Nehawu, and the South African Municipal Workers Union, Samwu, to lead the way by forming a merger in November. The Post and Telecommunications Workers Association, Potwa, had indicated an interest in the umbrella union but is yet to take the final step once its own struggles with the could- be- restructured Telkom are resolved.
Such prospects could spell a difficult period ahead should issues, including wages, and public-sector industrial relations systems remain unresolved.