THE LABOUR PAGE

The following article is an edited version of a story in the February issue of the South African Labour Bulletin. For the complete story, and others, readers are encouraged to subscribe to the SALB.

Collective bargaining

Reneé Grawitzky, editor of the SALB, looks at the potential trends around strikes and bargaining in the year ahead.

Analysts suggest that the number of mandays lost to strike action might be lower this year than last because the main sectors, which traditionally account for the majority of mandays lost, will already be tied into longer-term agreements. However, they argue that factors such as the decline of the rand, rising inflation and amendments to section 189 of the Labour Relations Act (LRA), which grants workers the right to strike over retrenchments, could be a trigger for strikes this year, especially in the public sector.

The main strikes embarked upon during 2001 were:

• Two-weeks, by CWU members at SA Post Office over the issue of a reduction in overtime pay and certain benefits.
• Short strike by Satawu members at Metrorail over the outsourcing of access control services.
• Short strike by NUM members at Placer Dome over the issue of the arrangement of working hours.
• Protracted strike by NUM members at Palabora Mining in Mpumalanga.
• Countrywide strike by Satawu at Spoornet over wages.
• Engen Oil Refinery in Durban involving temporary workers.
• Three-day wage strike by members of Numsa, NUM and MWU-Solidarity at Eskom.
• Three-week wage strikes by Numsa members in the automobile and tyre sectors.
• Protracted wage strike by NUM members at Northern Platinum Mine.
• Wage strike by Sactwu members in the clothing industry in Gauteng.
• Strike by Numsa members at Samancor.
• Short strike by Numsa members at Toyota over retrenchments.
• Two-weeks by Numsa members at Midas.
• Solidarity strike by Numsa members at Billiton operations in support of Mozambiqan workers at Mozal
• Major wage strike by Satawu and a number of Fedusa-affiliated unions at the SA Port Operations (Durban port).

Wages accounted for 75,2% of mandays lost and 55% of the number of strikes while the main sectors affected were automobile 41,7%, metal/manufacturing 12,2%, mining 16%, communication 11,8%, transport 3,8%, paper/printing 2,7%, chemical 2,3% and clothing 2,2%, and food 1,7%. The most active unions in terms of mandays lost were: Numsa 59,8%, NUM 16%, CWU 11,8%, Satawu 3,4%, Ceppwawu 2,7%, and Sactwu 2,2%.

Wage settlements during 2001

Preliminary data released by the Cape Town-based Labour Research Service (LRS) found that the medium settlement level for the lowest paid workers was 8% with an average of 8,2%.

LRS director Sahra Ryklief says that based on an annual inflation rate figure of 5,7% workers would have received a real increase of 2,3%. However, a better indicator of real increases for low-income earners would be to take CPIX as the measure. Workers would in effect have received a real increase of 1,1% based on a CPIX of 6,9%.

Data released by Stats South Africa found that between September 2000 and September 2001, the share of wages in the national income was the lowest level since the Second World War, except for 1980. This illustrates that the gap between the rich and poor is growing. The devaluation of the rand could exacerbate this trend.

Possible trends

One cannot assume that the new retrenchment clause in the LRA will impact on strike trends in 2002. The amendments are only likely to be enacted towards the second half of the year and the right to strike is coupled with a highly proceduralised process that has to be followed before workers can strike over retrenchments. With regards to the public sector, it has not shown historically that it is able to sustain a strike of more than two days as opposed to trends in the private sector.

Economists have warned instead that what is more likely to affect worker behaviour is the negative impact of the rand, which could sharpen worker struggles around wages in the year ahead.

Ryklief says predictions of a quieter year in relation to strike action cannot only be attributed to whether the key sectors have entered into multi-year agreements. There remained a number of key sectors which signed traditional one-year deals such as paper and package, textile, leather and others. Industrial action, she says, is very much determined by the state of the economy, which will determine whether parties will be negotiating in a hostile environment or not.