Nedlac hostsHigher Education Summit

On 11 February 1999, the National Education Health and Allied Workers Union served Nedlac with a notice of possible protest action interms of section 77(1)(b) of the Labour Relations Act. The reasons tabled by Nehawu as motivation for the intended protest action incd:

• The failure by the State to compel the tertiary education institutions to comply with the Higher Education Act;
• The failure by the State to monitor the use of State subsidies in tertiary education institutions;
• The failure by the State to negotiate mechanisms to ensure the effective restructuring of the tertiary education sector.

In terms of section 77(1)(c) ofthe Labour Relations Act, Nedlac convened a special management committee meeting in orderto consider the notice. The South African Universities Vice-Chancellors Association,Council for Technikon Principals and the Department of Education attended the meeting along with Nehawu representatives.

It was resolved at this meeting that a broader meeting that would inc representatives from each Technikon and University was important in order to resolve the problems raised by Nehawu. This broader meeting took place on 5 March. Substantive issues were discussed and a resolution wastaken that a summit needed to be convened to look at the issues further. The meeting alsoresolved that institutions should indicate whether they had other issues to discuss at the summit and whether they wished to be part of the process.

The purpose of the summit was tobegin a national dialogue on issues affecting the sector, to initiate discussions thatwould influence the planning framework at tertiary institutions and to engage indiscussions on specific issues of transformation.

Possible agenda items incdhuman resources networking, redress funding, employment equity, centralised bargaining,privatisation and transformation.

At a further meeting to receiveinputs from tertiary institutions on the resolutions of the 5 March meeting it wasresolved that a task team would be formed to steer the process. The task team consisted of representatives from Nehawu, the Department of Education, the Council for TechnikonPrincipals and the South African Universities Vice-Chancellors Association. It was agreedthat Nedlac would convene the first meeting and thereafter the Council for HigherEducation would facilitate the process. However, due to capacity problems, the Council forHigher Education withdrew from the process and Nedlac was requested to provide logistical support for the summit.

The summit could not be held on the original agreed date (5 and 6 July) due to logistical reasons, but it was ultimately held on 26 and 27 August 1999 at the Nedlac Offices in Johannesburg. More than 80 peopleattended, with representatives from the employee organisations, employers in the tertiary education sector and student oganisations. The Summit focused on two issues, centralised bargaining and transformation. It was facilitated by experienced mediators from the CCMA.

The Summit resulted in a draft memorandum of intent in which all the parties indicated their commitment to the process.The Summit resolved to take the memorandum of intent back to their constituencies and principals for further mandating.

It was further resolved that a national forum of tertiary education stakeholders be convened to consider all macro-policy issues confronting the tertiary education. This national forum will be a collaborative,consensus-building body aimed at transparent information sharing and consensus building onmacro-policy issues. The representatives have identified the following areas of critical importance to be addressed in the proposed forum:

• The future of collective bargaining relationships in the sector

• The financing of the tertiary education sector

• Employment Equity requirements for tertiary education

• Education policy for the next millenium and the legislative framework governing the sector

• Health and Safety Issues in the sector

It is envisaged that the national forum will reconvene after a period of six weeks to carry the process forward. The CCMA indicated its commitment to serving the process of convening the national forum of tertiary education stakeholders.

Nedlac's involvement in theHigher Education Summit, although it meant extending Nedlac's support of the processfor a longer period than is usually the case following a Section 77 notice, was anexcellent example of the institution's ability to bring parties together. Whether it be bringing together different employers, or different employee organisations in the same sector, or different government departments, Nedlac's forte is ensuring that people are talking to each other, within and across the business, labour, government and community groupings.