Lessons learned from 20 years of democracy - an industrial relations perspective
During South Africa's 20 years of democracy, various political decisions and initiatives were implemented to facilitate a relatively successful political transition. By applying the following ten lessons learned during this political transition period, it may be possible to restore peace and stability to South Africa's prevailing turbulent labour relations environment.
1. Slogan of 1994 election campaign: "Your vote is your secret"
Secrecy became important in labour relations due to an increase in violence and intimidation linked to employees' union affiliation. One solution to this problem is to remove unions' names from employees' payslips to reduce the exposure risk. Moreover, a compulsory secret strike ballot should be introduced before and during a strike.
2. Freedom of association - a fundamental constitutional right
The constitutional right to freedom of association should prevail, ensuring that employees can be represented at the workplace by the union of their choice and union members have the freedom to further the objectives of a specific union. The current practice whereby union recognition agreements can limit another union's right to act on behalf of its members, should be abolished.
3. Political democracy versus industrial democracy
In SA's political democracy, a political party with less than 1% support enjoys representation in Parliament, but in an industrial democracy a threshold of 50% representation is generally required for a union to enjoy full organisational rights at a workplace. Since this undemocratic "winner-takes-all" principle played an underlying role in the recent labour unrest which had destructive consequences, the focus will hopefully shift to adopting the "significant role-player" principle to enable other unions to gain recognition in a workplace.
4. Codesa - an example of good-faith bargaining
During the Codesa negotiations there was more at stake than there is in any wage negotiation. Codesa's end product was a prime example of a negotiated settlement. The current tendency is to enter into bad-faith wage negotiations that lean towards premeditated strikes. Some of our fellow union negotiators should approach wage negotiations with the aim of reaching a negotiated settlement and not merely fast-tracking the process to achieve a strike and, in effect, a lose-lose situation.
5. Chief negotiators at Codesa and Constitutional Assembly
The chief negotiators at Codesa and the Constitutional Assembly (the body that negotiated the final Constitution) were not the leaders of the various stakeholders, but were skilled negotiators appointed by each party. CEOs have lately taken over the role of the traditional labour negotiators and cabinet ministers have been forced to fulfil the mediation role of the CCMA or bargaining councils. Skilled labour relations specialists should be allowed to deal with labour negotiations and executives and senior politicians should only get involved as mandate givers and influential commentators.
6. Multiparty engagement in policy-making processes
All political parties represented in Parliament are involved in debates of parliamentary and issue-specific portfolio committees. Labour relations structures tend to be more fragmented and exclusive. It is also far from ideal to have a prominent mainstream union such as Amcu to have the luxury of being selective about the forums it participates in. A need exists for statutory sector-specific labour relations forums that move away from mere social dialogue and focus on constructive outcomes.
7. Politics, unions and business should not mix
Dubious BEE deals and controversial government tender processes are, among other things, damaging SA's image as an investment destination. In the Aurora debacle, for example, politically-connected "business criminals" were allowed to destroy mining assets and the lives of thousands of mineworkers.
Fortunately, in his latest state of the nation address, President Jacob Zuma announced a clampdown on politicians who have business dealings with the state. Stemming from this, unions and union leaders should also not be involved in business dealings that would constitute a conflict of interest and furthermore unions should not have politicians as mandate givers. Worker interests should be trade unions' main focus.
8. Intolerance and a challenge to the rule of law
Political and faction fights were rife in the early 1990s, but strong and decisive political leadership, supported by well-managed state interventions, brought the situation under control. Present-day labour unrest challenges the rule of law and the constitutional right to life and human dignity. The police and employers should adopt a zero-tolerance approach to strike-related violence and intimidation to restore the rule of law.
9. Leadership - the Nelson Mandela example
Ex-president Nelson Mandela set the example of a leader who could rise above differences and his own interests. This is what is currently lacking and SA requires strong and ethical union leaders who control and guide their members, business leaders who look for long-term, sustainable solutions and political leaders who get involved in labour matters, putting their political prejudices aside and acting in the best interest of the country.
10. Putting South Africa first
A low unemployment rate should be SA's main priority. Therefore, all able-bodied, adult South Africans should have a common goal, which is to have a decent job and for their children and grandchildren to have a job one day. This objective can only be achieved if ideologically driven union and political leaders set their destructive revolutionary agendas aside, and business leaders put the interest of workers first.
Conclusion
In light of these lessons, it is my wish that any future "Labour Relations Indaba" will not be a mere talk shop, but a Codesa-like opportunity for identifying all the areas where labour relations have gone wrong and seeking win-win solutions to complement SA's 20 years of political democracy.
Gideon du Plessis is General Secretary of Solidarity.
This article first appeared on the Maroela Media website.
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