Trade unions in focus at Labour Law Conference

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This session is facilitated by High Court Judge Dennis Davis and includes panellists Jay Naidoo who served as telecommunications minister under former President Nelson Mandela and author of Change: Organising Tomorrow, Today; Gideon du Plessis, general secretary, Solidarity/Solidariteit and Dennis George, general secretary, Federation of Unions South Africa (FEDUSA).

South African workers are finding the workplace more uncertain, with trade unions seemingly less effective. “Trade unions have to adapt,” says Lindiwe Maqutu, lecturer in Labour Law and Introductory Constitutional Law at the University of KwaZulu-Natal.

“If done well, this plenary is an opportunity to encourage trade unions to see how they can adjust to the new employment landscape – one in which employers are effectively distancing themselves from their employees using labour brokers; this has made it more difficult for trade unions to mobilise workers. The creation of a black elite in senior management in the midst of a salary gap between management and workers has widened inequality.”

When the Labour Relations Act was fashioned, based on South Africa’s constitution and the global context of a free market economy, it was believed that a few strong trade unions, populated by the majority of employed workers, would yield industry wide modifications to working conditions, leading to rising wages, alleviating the plight of the marginalised working class.

“Instead, some 22 years later security of employment has become endangered,” said Maqutu.

Workers appear to be expendable; contract work is on the rise; the spread of agencies ostensibly employing and supplying temporary workers has enabled de facto employers to distance themselves from employees. Workers are losing effective mechanisms for airing grievances, due to the precarious nature of their employment – the places where workers conduct employment duties is not necessarily in their designated workplace, so it is becoming more difficult for trade unions to organise and represent their members effectively.

Protections provided for by labour laws may be circumvented, since ultimately the viability of the business enterprise has to be given priority, sometimes to the disadvantage of workers.

Outdated economic model

Arguably, the current South African trade union movement is based on an economic work model that no longer exists and workers are losing out.

“Therefore, it is vital to discuss how relevant are trade unions in their current form and ways to modify trade union operations, lest workers become causalities of dysfunctions in the system and the income inequality gap widen further rather than narrow.

Employers, human resources personnel and industrial relations managers, labour lawyers, trade unions, government representatives, traditionally attend the conference. Appealing for a wider participation, Maqutu said it was vital that civil society and NGOs be included in the conference to ensure that the discussions are more apposite and widely disseminated in South Africa.

“The participants attending the conference will have an opportunity to engage with policymakers and thereby influence its findings and possible outcomes in the South African industrial relations landscape. We need these diverse groups to attend in order to facilitate robust debate that will ‘stir the pot.’

“Many South Africans are at a point of desperation. The Marikana Massacre did not happen in a vacuum and the problems that were highlighted then still exist and are part of the greater socio-economic inequality in our country.”

Updated legislation information

There are also practical reasons for attending the conference. People need to find out pertinent and most recent arbitration and Labour court decisions - discuss the leanings of the labour courts regarding employment, fair labour practices, dismissal and more.

As a method of informing the industry on the developments in the labour law, the conference is relevant to everyone, particularly to those working on the cutting edge of labour practice. Delegates will be brought up to date by labour law and economic experts, who will present papers and lead discussions on changes that affect the labour market and workplace law, including crucial judgements.

For more information, go to www.annuallabourlawconference.co.za.