Looking back, moving forward - there's much to be done

The groundbreaking CCMA facilitated Think Tank event held on November 10 to mark the organisation's 15th anniversary was held a day before the National Planning Commission handed its report to President Jacob Zuma.

The anniversary Think Tank event offered CCMA users and social partners a critical platform to review both the past 17 years and the current state of the South African labour market and the views expressed by the various presenters and panelists were not the views of the CCMA.

More importantly it offered a facilitated platform for CCMA users and social partners to generate new and creative ideas to address what now by consensus is regarded as the "triple crises" and challenges of unemployment, poverty and inequality.

Presenters and panelists who included Dr Sipho Pityana, the first post-apartheid director-general of labour, Professor Halton Cheadle, professor of labour law at the University of Cape Town and Professor Sakhela Buhlungu, professor of sociology at the University of Pretoria.

All the presenters decried the current state of the South African labour market and the ongoing inability of the social partners to reach a national consensus to address unemployment, poverty and inequality, which particularly impacted young people and black women.

Cheadle, one of the architects of post-apartheid labour laws reflected on the vision for the post-1994 labour market.

"If strategies and plans were bread, South Africa would not have any poverty or hungry people.

"We are masters at developing plans and equal masters at doing nothing to implement such plans," said Cheadle.

Pityana's main address focused on the current reality which particularly impacted negatively on young people and black women.

He stressed the urgency for government, labour and business to rise to the challenge and to develop a national consensus to grow the economy and create jobs failing which, he believed, they collectively run the risk of losing the respect and stature to control the future setting of the national collective bargaining, broader socio-economic and political agendas in South Africa.

In presenting his views on the current state of the labour market in South Africa, Pityana stressed that despite the positive role played by the CCMA, labour relations has deteriorated and workplace discrimination has become more rampant than reported with very few organisations being prepared to champion the cause of black women and workers.

He called on government to govern and to not allow the broader dynamics within the ruling party and its alliance to negatively affect the policy making process and its implementation required to take the country forward on a real growth and job creation trajectory.

A broader concern raised by Pityana and echoed by other speakers pointed to the low level of skills available in the national economy which in their view further compounded the problem and required a realistic and practical program of action to "fix" the education and training system as this is critical to the success of any plan to grow the economy and create jobs.

Buhlungu in an insightful address, unpacked the current causes of the challenges facing the South African labour market and stressed the need for all role payers to distinguish between the rhetoric and reality when it came to dealing with issues such as labour market flexibility.

"Our labour market reflects the nature of the political compromise and the outcome of a negotiated political transition which emphasised continuity, not rupture" said Buhlungu.

This in his view was underpinned by an incorrect assumption that everyone will be able to look after themselves by forming or using institutions such as trade unions.

In Buhlungu's view, the workplace is the 'soft underbelly' which shows the weakness of the current representation model which has exacerbated the legacy of conflict in our society and workplaces.

The dominant culture is one that continues the use of power to crush opponents, he said.

This, linked to management intransigence and workers carrying forward the previous culture of "siyayinyova" and ungovernability, has lead to the current levels of violence which is often encouraged and celebrated within the ranks of organised labour and business.

The looming ghost of ungovernability must be laid to rest and trade unions must, in Buhlungu's view, also address the problems of fragmentation and put in place programs to organise young people, the marginalised and immigrant workers.

In drawing conclusions, Buhlungu believes that South Africa's labour market ills require that choices be made urgently and within the context of a comprehensive approach that connects the issues, failing which the labour market will sink into an even deeper state of chaos..

The panel covered a wide-range of labour market and related concerns and views including;

• the need to address the direct link between greed and poverty within the broader society:
• the need to revisit some of the assumptions that shaped earlier policies, for example: that globilisation would bring jobs and wealth and that organised labour would be strong enough to speak on behalf of the unemployed and oppressed;
• that the global crises requires a paradigm shift in thinking;
• the rise of labour brokers and atypical forms of employment and the ongoing debate to outlaw or regulate labour brokers;
• the changing profile of unionized workers in South Africa with many holding university degrees and the emergence of federations dominated by large public sector unions;
• the lack of trust between social partners;
• the absence of decisive leadership;
• an unwillingness by Government to take bold decisions and govern;
• the need to address the crises of indecisiveness and leadership at every level of the society;
• re-evaluate the role of centralised bargaining in setting minimum wages and job creation;
• that the overall problem of unemployment cannot be attributed to our labour law;
• labour market flexibility;

Participants felt that the CCMA may be a victim of its own successes which has led to a growing case load while others felt that the time has come to consider an expanded mandate and role within the South African labour market. If anything, the event has left us with much to ponder as we grapple with finding solutions to the challenges of unemployment, poverty and inequality.