Root cause of labour unrest in mining sector much deeper - Solidarity
Workers are seldom better off after strikes
It is unlikely that unreasonably low wages are at the root of labour unrest in the mining sector, trade union Solidarity said today when it released its quarterly Labour Market Report. The strikes at Impala, Lonmin, Amplats, GoldFields, Harmony and AngloGold Ashanti, which also spread to the coal mining, the iron ore mining and the chrome industries, are rather the result of the local labour relations system which caused an eruption.
The quarterly Labour Market Report of the Solidarity Research Institute (SRI) comments on specific factors that had a meaningful impact on the labour market during the past three months. Piet le Roux, Senior Economics Researcher at the SRI, said the majoritarian character of the Labour Relations Act was one of the factors that caused the wave of strikes in the platinum industry. ‘In essence it is an undemocratic winner-takes-all system. It gives the majority trade union the right to negotiate with the company on behalf of all workers and to enter into binding agreements. In the process, minority unions are being excluded and the position of the large unions is entrenched against smaller unions and newcomers in trade unionism.'
Le Roux said calls for a revisit of the wage bargaining process in the platinum industry and, by implication, in other industries as well are coming from various quarters. ‘In principle there is no problem with a process of central bargaining, as long as it is not in essence based on the existing "winner takes all" system. If an agreement can be reached in terms of which the current labour unrest can be resolved in a sustainable manner by dealing with certain issues at central negotiating forums, it would be one of only a few positives to emerge from the tumultuous times of the past few months. Central bargaining should not be rigid and statutory either, but should be based on voluntary participation. In any endeavour to resolve the prevailing labour unrest there must be sufficient release mechanisms within labour relations - more specifically: room for minority trade unions and no special treatment for majority unions.'
Paul Joubert, Senior Economics Researcher at the SRI, said that although peaceful and orderly strikes constitute a legitimate last resort for workers and trade unions during wage negotiations, workers must always consider whether or not they would be better off after the strike. ‘It is often held that if, for example, a strike results in a 10% wage increase, and the strike lasted for less than 10% of the working year (about 25 working days) the strike was successful. However, this approach is wrong. The actual reward of the strike must, to mention but one factor, be measured by the difference between the wage increase offered and the one obtained after the strike. If the employer offered an increase of 9% before the strike and an increase of 10% is settled on afterwards, then only the difference of one per cent can be attributed to the strike. It will therefore take an employee who was on strike for 25 working days in order to get a 10% increase instead of a 9% increase around 11 years to really benefit from the fact that he went on strike.'
The third Labour Market Report of 2012 also refers to the uneven playing field in the South African aviation industry and the absolute exclusion in the workplace because of race discrimination. Click here to download the complete Labour Market Report.
Statement issued by Piet le Roux and Paul Joubert, Senior Economics Researchers, Solidarity Research Institute, October 15 2012
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