Second meeting to discuss COSATU notice of possible
protest action regarding the privatisation and planned
privatisation of municipal services
Tuesday, 8 September 1998
Second meeting to discuss COSATU notice of possible protest
action regarding the privatisation and planned privatisation of
municipal services
A second meeting was held at Nedlac today to consider the notice
served by the Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU)
regarding possible protest action against the privatisation and
proposed privatisation of municipal services, including the
provision of water. This notice has been served by the union in
terms of s77(1)(b) of the Labour Relations Act, which gives workers
the right to embark on protest action to promote and protest their
social and economic interestsprovided that certain procedures are
followed.
The meeting, which included the Directors-General of
Constitutional Development and Water Affairs, representatives of
SALGA, Deputy-General Secretary of Cosatu, Zwelinzima Vavi, and
members of the Nedlac management committee, was the second meeting
called in terms of Section 77(1)(c) of the LRA, which requires
Nedlac to consider the notice with a view to resolving the matter
through a process of facilitation. The first meeting was held on
Friday 28 August, at which it was decided to take discussions
further at the meeting today, subsequent to a working group meeting
on the 1st September.
At the end of exhaustive discussions today, the parties were
unable to reach agreement on any of the demands tabled by Cosatu.
These demands covered issues of privatisation, public service
delivery and partnerships; public services that have already been
privatised, as well as private services that are planned to be
privatised; government co-ordination of national legislation and
policy; existing collective bargaining agreements and local
government funding. The parties agreed that the matter had been
properly considered by Nedlac, which is one of the requirements of
Section 77.(1) (c). According to the Nedlac procedure, parties can
now decide which steps they wish to take. Section 77 (1) (d) of the
LRA makes provision for the tabling of a further notice of intended
protest action at Nedlac, at least 14 days before the commencement
of protest action.