The CCMA's Building Workplace Relations Service

Building Workplace Relations (BWR) is a new service offered by the CCMA.

The focus of this service is on building relations in the workplace between all role players involved, employers, trade unions, managers, shop stewards and workers.

The aim of the BWR process is to achieve sound, stable workplace and labour relations in public and private sector institutions.

The overall objective of the BWR process is to contribute towards the transformation of South African workplaces in the interests of all stakeholders.

Towards the end of 2010 during a CCMA mediation process with a large employer in the transportation sector and the trade unions representing its workers it became clear to the CCMA Commissioners co-mediating the dispute that given the nature of the issues in dispute as well as the manner in which the parties had engaged each other, that there was extensive room for relations to be improved between them.

A brief outline of the CCMA's BWR process was presented to the parties and shortly after the conclusion of the mediation process the respective parties voluntarily committed themselves to having a Building Workplace Relations intervention a few months later.

At the BWR process the parties identified the issues between them that needed to be addressed to improve their workplace relations and put clear measurable action plans in place to achieve this.

Two of the 'outcomes' identified by the parties at the BWR intervention were for them to also be trained in the CCMA's Managing Conflict in the Workplace course, as well as for their managers, supervisors and union representatives to be trained in the CCMA's new Workplace Discipline course.

The respective training workshops are currently being conducted while the other outcomes and objectives jointly agreed to by the parties at the BWR intervention are also being addressed.

Following an enquiry by a Provincial Legislature about the CCMA's BWR service, a 'scoping exercise' was conducted by a CCMA commissioner with the respective Provincial Legislature and the union representing its workers to determine whether the BWR process would be an appropriate intervention and to determine the parties readiness for such an intervention.

The parties identified the workplace relationship between management and labour to have deteriorated to such an extent that their collective bargaining processes and their workplace relations were under considerable threat.

The parties embarked on a BWR process where they identified the key issues threatening their workplace relations and then worked together to put plans into place to deal with the threats and to manage proactively the conflict between them.

The parties have also put a review process in place to monitor and evaluate progress made in improving their workplace relations.

BWR interventions are intended to assist parties to clarify the nature of the relations they want in the workplace and then to design and implement systems and processes to achieve these.

Having the objective of improving relations, including trust, respect and communication in the workplace, BWR interventions can include Relationship Building Interventions (RBI), Relationship Building by Objectives (RBO) and other processes designed to enhance and improve workplace relations between the various role players.

A team of BWR facilitators in the CCMA has been picked for their labour market knowledge and their particular skills and experience in advanced facilitation, mediation and conflict management processes.

BWR is a key service designed by the CCMA, guided by the purpose of the Labour Relations Act 66 of 1995 to advance economic development, social justice, labour peace and the democratisation of workplaces.