Long-running labour disputes in the civil aviation and road freight industries have held up a crystal ball in which the clouded future of labour organisations in South Africa can be seen.
The battles highlight the two largest threats to trade unions in the new millennium — the growing use of casual labour and privatisation.
The trucking industry dispute was settled last week after seven months of negotiations, averting a strike by about 60 000 workers. However, the Equity Aviation Services strike, in its 13th week, has become South Africa’s longest-lasting industrial action since 1994.
About 800 baggage handlers represented by the South African Transport and Allied Workers Union (Satawu) downed tools at four of the country’s six airports in December last year when negotiations between Equity and Satawu deadlocked.
The sticking point is working hours — Equity wants to increase the working week from 40 to 45 hours, with a 6% wage increase, while Satawu will concede a 42,5-hour week, with a 7,5% increase backdated to April last year.
Underlying the dispute is the deeper issue of privatisation and the impact it has on union negotiating power.
Equity was formed early last year when British multinational service giant Serco and a local black economic empowerment consortium, Equity Alliance, bought a 51% share of Apron Services from Transnet. Transnet still holds 49%.
Equity spokesperson Herman Fleishmann insisted that a 45-hour working week was essential for the company’s health, as it would generate annual savings of R15-million. Reduced costs would bring the company in line with its main competitors, all with 45-hour weeks.
Randall Howard, Satawu general secretary, said Satawu supported the government’s need to advance black economic empowerment. But, he added, the state’s “disengagement” was unacceptable if the price unions paid was “ruthless profiteering”.
A Satawu memorandum to Minister of Public Enterprises Jeff Radebe warns that unions will resist the “restructuring of state assets” if it happens at the expense of workers. The union demanded that 5% of the Equity Alliance shares be handed back to Transnet to restore state control.
To stem the weakening of union power, Satawu is pushing for a national bargaining council in the civil aviation industry, said Howard. In theory, central bargaining would bolster the labour movement by setting minimum wages and conditions for the sector’s entire workforce.
But central bargaining is itself coming under pressure. Last week, conflict in the national bargaining council for the road freight industry came to a head when Satawu, acting on behalf of five unions, issued a strike notice to Road Freight Employers’ Association (RFEA) after seven months of negotiations.
The parties settled on Monday after agreeing to an 8% across-the-board wage increase, with increases in minimum wages for all grades of workers.
“The settlement was very amicable and we welcomed the fact that this dispute was settled without industrial action, which would have meant a R2,9-million loss per day for employees in lost pay,” said RFEA spokesperson Kevin Wayhew.
Underlying the wage battle is the accelerating casualisation of the truck business. Of the 60 000 workers in the industry, 16 000 are outsourced.
Abner Ramakgolo, Satawu’s national coordinator for the road freight sector, said casualisation is crippling collective bargaining as national agreements are being replaced with enterprise agreements and individual contracts. This economic deregulation, he said, is accelerating the “de-unionisation” of the trucking industry.
“The bargaining procedure at least means that the weak do not become steadily weaker. Today we are facing that very risk with the dispersal of the workforce resulting from the movement towards labour market flexibility,” Ramakgolo said.
It is not just the trucking sector that is affected. Research by the Congress of South African Trade Unions research arm, Naledi, shows casual labour grew 272% from 1999 to 2002. The number of permanent employees dropped by 5,6% over the same period, while subcontracted labour increased by 322%.
Senior Naledi researcher Wolfe Braude said unions are starting to react to the growth of atypical workers. However, they will need to act with greater urgency to avoid being confined to the shrinking formal sector workforce.
Braude said casualisation also held hidden dangers for employers. “In the long term they will lose workplace stability. Outsourcing also results in low skills retention, loss of institutional memory and a poor-quality workforce.”