PROPOSED EDUCATION SUMMIT ON TERTIARY
INSTITUTIONS
University and Technikon councils have two weeks in which to
consider a proposal for an education summit on tertiary education
aimed at resolving issues raised by the National Health and Allied
Workers Union (Nehawu) in a Section 77 notice of protest action
tabled at Nedlac.
At a special management committee meeting of Nedlac on Friday,
attended by representatives of nineteen University and ten
Technikon councils, Nehawu and the Department of Education, parties
resolved that they would consider various mechanisms to resolve the
problems raised by Nehawu, including the possibility of an
education summit on tertiary institutions. They would also consider
a possible date and agenda for such a summit, which could include
the establishment of a bargaining council for tertiary
institutions, and a moratorium on contracting out,privatisation and
retrenchment in all tertiary institutions. They would further
consider the need for other stakeholders to be involved in the
process.
Parties agreed that they would revert on the matters under
consideration within fourteen days of 8 March 1999. Nedlac would
then convene a further meeting within 7 days of that date, i.e.
before 30 March 1999. Nedlac would also establish a task group in
order to manage the process
The notice served by Nehawu was in terms ofs77(1)(b) of the
Labour Relations Act, which gives workers the right to embark on
protestaction to promote and protect their social and
economic interests, if they follow certain procedures.
Nedlac is required to consider the notice with a view to resolving
the matter through a process of facilitation.
The reasons tabled by NEHAWU as motivation for the intended
protest action include:
- 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.
Ends