Post on 17-Dec-2015
HALTON CHEADLECCMA 15T H ANNIVERSARY – THINK TANK
10 NOVEMBER 2011
The Vision for the Post-1994 Labour Market
PRESENTATION OUTLINE
The challenges at the time
Policy and legislative responses
Vision for the post-1994 labour market
CHALLENGES
The new government faced a terrible legacy of extreme inequality and high unemployment
mass unemployment and poverty
discrimination and inequality
intense conflict at the workplace
low levels of productivity
shortage of managerial and technical skills required to drive an economy
Sluggish employment growth
economy increasingly open to international competition
POLICY & LEGISLATIVE RESPONSES
Constitutional rights
RDP’s employment related objectives
Policies underlying the LRA
NEDLAC Act
Labour Market Commission (Presidential Commission to investigate labour market policy (Report in June 1996)
EEA, BCEA, SDA
THE RDP’s VISION
Eradication of poverty through “more and better” jobs
Worker participation
The elimination of racial and gender-based discrimination in the labour market
Productivity enhancement
A stable macroeconomic environment
LABOUR MARKET COMMISSION
Terms of reference
To develop labour market policies to meet the RDP
Voice regulation at all levels
Balance between labour market security and flexibility
National Productivity Accord
Productivity-enhancing work organisation
Institutionalised co-ordination
THE EMERGENCE OF A POST-1994 VISION
“Regulated flexibility”
A growth path with job creation and strong economic development
Increased private sector investment to underpin employment growth including the IDC’s development finance and support measures for small, medium and micro-enterprises
Labour market policies co-ordinated with macroeconomic policies by means of a national Accord for Employment and Growth involving all of the social partners
Macroeconomic, industrial and trade policies that promote employment and do not focus only on driving down inflation
THE POST-1994 VISION
Management of global competition - increasing efficiency in the utilisation of domestic resources, both labour and capital, as the basis for effective engagement in international markets
Reforms in the labour market to promote flexibility, where flexibility is understood as a multi-faceted concept that is not merely a euphemism for lower real wages or weak unions
Protection of individual rights and labour market security
The balance between flexibility and security achieved through the mechanism of voice regulation - bargained arrangements between strong, stable and well-informed employer and employee representatives
THE POST-1994 VISION
Promotion of collective bargaining
Institutional framework
Nedlac
Sectoral bargaining through bargaining councils
Workplace forums
THE POST-1994 VISION
Employment equity – affirmative action without quotas but the emphasis on the role of collective bargaining and participatory workplace structures in developing employment equity plans
Skills development with recognition of prior learning
Workplace-based training with transportable skills and qualifications
THE VISION FOR NEDLAC
Policy-making at the highest level
Consensus based
Tripartism
A forum for negotiating legislation prior to normal legislative processes
Demarcation of sectors
THE LRA’S VISION
Social justice and economic development
Freedom of association
Organisational rights to stabilise union organisation
Promotion of collective bargaining – both at workplace and sectoral level
Establishment and consolidation of bargaining councils
Framework agreements at sectoral level
Productivity bargaining at plant level
Less adversarialism and meaningful consultation at all levels
THE LRA’S VISION
Speedy dispute resolution with the emphasis on meaningful consensus-seeking approaches
Recognition of the right to strike with relatively non-technical processes to follow
Interest arbitration of essential services disputes
Relative labour peace – no strikes over dismissals and thorough mediation before strike action
Codified, clear law on unfair dismissals with final and binding arbitration; limited grounds for review
Limited concept of the unfair labour practice
Simple workplace disciplinary processes
QUESTIONS
Why have we not achieved more consensual, rather than less adversarial engagements?
Has NEDLAC succeeded as an effective tripartite institution?
Is collective bargaining playing a constructive economic role
Is there sufficient progress on productivity and skills development?
Is it too easy to strike?
Is it too easy to refer disputes?
QUESTIONS
Why have unions not followed organisational and strategic approaches to changes in the labour market?
What is the scope for job creation agreements, perhaps with lower wages for new entrants?
What role can the CCMA play to achieve the original vision?