Debating labour market flexibility
4 April 2006
Long-awaited discussions on South Africa's labour market flexibility start this week, with Labour Minister Membathisi Mdladlana set to table the matter before social partners in Johannesburg on Thursday.
Participants will include representatives of organised labour and business, as well as community representatives and academics who have developed various angles and approaches to the regulation framework.
Issues around labour market policies and their impact on job creation and small business development will form the core of the debate.
The regulatory efficiency of the Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration (CCMA), dispute resolution and the Labour Relations Act (LRA) will also be discussed.
The Labour Department says the LRA, as amended in 2002, has further clarified matters and "consciously" attempted to ease procedures on dismissals in a manner favouring small businesses.
"For example, section 188A now provides for an agreement for pre-dismissal arbitration where an employer may, with the consent of an employee, request a council, an accredited agency or the CCMA to conduct arbitration into allegations about the conduct or capacity of that employee," Mdladlana said.
"We do not know yet whether these amendments have achieved the desired effect, or whether the problem is institutional either from the CCMA side, employer side, and/or employee side.
"In my department's analysis we have also found that bargaining councils have limited coverage within the private sector," the minister said.
There are 51 bargaining councils covering some 2.3-million workers out of a total South African workforce of 11.6-million.
Over 60% of these workers fall within the five public service bargaining councils (1 075 969 people), the local government bargaining council (196 000) and a council covering a single parastatal, Transnet (184 788).
It is estimated that there are about 300 000 workers to whom bargaining council agreements could be extended within the private sector. This represents less than 2.6% of the country's total workforce.
In 1983 there were 104 councils and in 2004 there were about 57 councils.
Academics have argued that employers' organisations in councils need to be more representative of small businesses in numerical terms, with this translating into effective representation of this sector's interests in council negotiations.
"We are taking arguments presented by academics and their conclusions seriously," Mdladlana said. "They have implications for our legislative work, but more importantly, assist us in unblocking implementation challenges."
He added that deregulation did not automatically lead to increased labour market efficiency and in certain instances might even lead to inefficiency.
"We are therefore clear in our decision not to deregulate the labour market."
He said the LRA was underpinned by the principle that organised labour and business would bargain collectively on matters important to them.
"In considering any interventions to the labour market regulatory environment, the principle of self-determination and regulation must be remembered," the minister said.
Source: BuaNews
