Cyril, unions face off over labour amendments

As President Cyril Ramaphosa’s economic and labour market stabilisation campaign gains momentum with attempts to lure foreign investors and end destructive strikes, he is facing the wrath of the SA Federation of Trade Unions (Saftu), which is embarking on a national general strike on Wednesday.

The strike has the support of civil society.

The new labour federation with 800 000 members from 30 union affiliates said it was protesting the labour amendments introduced by the department, which they claim pose a serious threat to the workers’ right to strike and their survival. Unions that do not comply will be deregistered.

Saftu also rejected the national minimum wage of R20 an hour.

“It perpetuates and legitimises the unequal apartheid wage structure. It will keep millions of workers mired in poverty and will mak  South Africa an even more unequal society,” said Zwelinzima Vavi, Saftu general secretary.

Cosatu is not participating in the national strike, which is the first national labour action under the Ramaphosa administration.

Spokesperson Sizwe Pamla said their priorities were the VAT, fuel levy and electricity increases, deaths in mines and retrenchments. He added that the pre-strike secret ballot and picketing rules had already existed, but were not enforced.  “For years unions had to ballot members before going on strike or call off a strike to get a mandate. If you fail to ballot workers, you are imposing and interfering with the workers’ right to strike or not to strike.”

In terms of the rules, a trade union must conduct a secret strike ballot among its members before taking action and unions will be forced to include a secret ballot clause in their constitutions or face being deregistered. Any non-compliant union would not be allowed to represent its members at the Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration, or the Labour Court.

In cases of long and violent strikes or lockouts with the potential to cause a local or national crisis, the department of labour would be empowered to establish a compulsory advisory arbitration panel to resolve the dispute.

But both Saftu and its main affiliate, the militant National Union of Metalworkers  (Numsa), vowed to fight the amendments, saying they not only undermined workers’ fundamental constitutional rights, but they were not consulted on the changes.

They added that only union federations represented at the National Economic Development and Labour Council (Nedlac) were informed, and they had just accepted the changes, which would likely reverse the gains achieved by the labour movement prior to and after 1994.

Numsa deputy general secretary Karl Cloete said the union opposed the secret ballot as it was complicated, costly and cumbersome.

“If implemented, it will make it impossible for workers to go on strike. Numsa is part of a coalition of 21 pro-working class movements which have rejected the proposed changes to the labour law.’’

Last week, the department of labour’s chief director for collective bargaining, Thembinkosi Mkalipi, warned of consequences for unions that failed to comply with the new requirements. The department published an advertisement in newspapers outlining the amendments Mkalipi said would be enforced.

“In terms of the amendments, the department will advise the unions that do not have a strike ballot clause in their constitutions that they should amend their constitutions to include one,” he said.

Should unions choose not to do so there could be dire consequences, Mkalipi added.

“We will ensure that, in line with the amendments, a ballot takes place, especially when the labour dispute is prolonged. Or we will deregister you.”

The new rules also required the CCMA director to intervene when a strike became violent, caused damage to property or loss of life or was prolonged.

“He can trigger the process of establishing an arbitration panel which would issue an advisory award within seven days.

“The award will be subject to consultation among the parties and can be accepted or rejected.”

The amendments also introduce new picketing rules, including the distance strikers must be from the workplace.

A certificate for the action must be obtained and picketing rules must be strictly observed, said Mkalipi.

Vavi said Saftu had noted that the parliamentary portfolio committee on labour referred the minimum wage back to the department for redrafting to include new input.

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