Numsa’s now 10 year old, 3-year bargaining strategy looked at elevating workers’ livelihood. Numsa has just employed Fanie Mohlala to find out how successful the strategy has been. Judi Mazibuko-Madumo spoke to him to find out what’s planned and how you can input.
You are contracted in to assist the union to carry out this mandate. How do you plan to unfold this process?
We are nearing the completion of phase one of the project. We had an ‘initiation’ workshop in April where we interrogated the key assumptions underlying this strategy. Now we know what kind of issues need to be clarified by the research. In the next phase, we’ll be going out to the field to collect information. We will interview shopstewards, employers and experts.. We will be working closely with sector co-ordinators.. Lucas Mthiyane will assist us with information gathering in the Engineering sector whilst Sam Tsiane will help us with information on the Motor sector. Malebo Mogopodi will also be a great resource when it comes to training issues. We have prepared some questions for these comrades so that they can dig data for us. This will also help us to fast track this research process.
Just remind us, what was the 3-year bargaining strategy all about?
The 3-year collective bargaining strategy was adopted in 1993. The union wanted to achieve the objectives of this strategy over a period of three years. It was a comprehensive strategy to deal with the legacy of apartheid in our industries. The apartheid system not only created two societies, but two unequal societies. The apartheid system denied black workers access to education and training. As a result they ended up occupying low-skilled positions. The wage differentials between the so-called skilled workers and the unskilled were also massive. The strategy aimed at improving the pay of the poorly paid workers and thereby increasing their standard of living. It aimed to achieve this by linking training, skills and grading to wages. The strategy also proposed the way in which our industries can be restructured to deal with the challenges of the global economic system.
Numsa’s 6th National Congress gave a mandate to review this strategy. Any steadfast basis for this decision?
The 6th National Congress wanted to ascertain whether the strategy had achieved its set objectives. The research will tell us whether the strategy needs to be improved or changed. New developments have taken place since the strategy has been adopted. For instance, we have new laws, the Skills Development Act (SDA), Employment Equity Act (EEA). We also have Sectoral Training Authorities (Setas), which are meant to offer training. We need to engage these to make sure that they translate into improved conditions for workers.
You talked of having nearly completed the first phase, which was done through an initiation workshop. Can you tell us about the remainder/ subsequent phases and their related themes?
Phase 2 of this study will look at international comparisons. We’ll also have focus groups and interviews and seven case studies across sectors. In phase 3 we’ll finalise the case studies and also finalise the international study. The major task in this phase will be to write the first draft of the report. Then in phase 4, we’ll incorporate comments made in the draft for submission to the Central Committee. The final phase will mainly focus on the output of the research, popularise the findings through pamphlets, booklets and posters. More importantly we’ll have the final report ready for presentation at the National Congress in 2004.
How do you plan to draw in members’ keen sense of what the developments are?
As we research we’ll be trying to understand workers’ perspective on these issue – they are the people who know these issues in their respective plants. So we’ll try and speak to workers. And we would like workers to share their experiences with us, and whether their lives have improved as a result of the 3-year bargaining strategy.
Start discussing these questions in your locals/workplaces. Watch out for questionnaires coming to your locals:
Training
Is training taking place?
Who and how many have benefited from skill development/training?
Is ABET taking place in your company?
Grading
How many grades exist in your plant?
Are you satisfied with your current grading structure? If yes, why and if not, why not?
Wages
Do you think that the current grading structure has helped to reduce the wage gap?