The news has been full of the government’s new plan, Jipsa, to attack the skills deficit. While Numsa has no catchy name like this, its intentions are equally strong.
The newly revived Numsa national training committee which met in March has given regions an instruction – by June 2006 they must re-establish defunct training structures, allocate a regional office bearer to deal with training issues and ensure regular reports go to head office. The national office must make sure that a national office bearer takes responsibility for training issues.
At the same time the education department is busy developing a course for shop stewards. By the end of the workshop, shop stewards will know how to do a skills audit in their company, draw up a workplace skills plan and scrutinise company training budgets.
They will learn what kinds of training are available to workers that can advance their career paths and what training grants employers can get from the sectoral training authorities [setas]. Employers will no longer be able to get away with just providing HIV/Aids awareness, health and safety training and fire fighting skills. Shop stewards will understand training jargon like WSP, Seta, SDF, ATR, NQF, SAQA and designated employer.
ObstaclesBut there will still be obstacles. Many small employers will complain that they are unable to offer training because their workplace is small and they are not paying levies to the seta. But this is not true. Small companies can apply for access to discretionary grants to train their workers. These cover ABET, learnerships, apprenticeships, skills programmes and on the job training.
And if companies say “Sorry, we are not accredited and have no capacity to train,” the Merseta is on hand. It has “signed service level agreements with a number of Further Education and Training Colleges,” says Xolani Tshayana, Numsa auto chamber representative at the Merseta. “They will assess and train workers especially where small companies are not accredited.”
The Merseta has signed an agreement with the East Cape Midlands College in Uitenhage and the West Coast FET College in Vredenburg that will train world class welders.
Both colleges are according to Acting CEO of the Merseta, Corli Janse van Rensburg, “situated close to large capital projects that will require high quality welding artisan skills.”
ABETMany workers lack the basic education [ABET] that is required to take various courses. However very few workers across Numsa’s factories are taking up the offer of studying ABET. Workers complain that apart from receiving a certificate and a once off payment of R300 for each learning area, their wages stay the same. But those that have completed ABET can see that this view is shortsighted.
VW worker and adult learner, Macdonald Maseti told Numsa Newslast year that “global changes are happening so fast… for us to be able to adapt to these new challenges, we must learn, we must also stop oppressing ourselves, because we will never achieve genuine freedom if we continue oppressing ourselves. … people must go back to school!”
Even with other skills training, engineering and motor workers are wary, asking what benefit training is to them because their employer gives them no extra pay.
Payment for skillsAt the age of 63, Andries Motlhamme, a worker with 30 years service at August Lí¤pple decided to enrol for a learnership in his company. Once he had completed his learnership he told Numsa News “I’m proud of this company that it gave me something. But on the money side I’m not proud. You put my service on this hand and my wages on this hand and somehow it doesn’t match up!”
GlobalisationBut globalisation brings insecure jobs and the threat of retrenchment. In the job queue outside the factory gates, who will get the first job? An older worker, just retrenched with a standard 2, 20 years of experience but no papers to show his skills or one of the thousands of matriculants who are unemployed?
While Numsa tries to negotiate with engineering and motor employers for payment for skills acquired, workers should not turn down the opportunity of training. The example is there – already tyre and auto employers are paying workers on higher grades if they have completed the training for those grades.
Dear Numsa News
To make sure that workers get adequate training, shop stewards must be hands on at plant level. Those regions that have Merseta labour coordinators must make use of them. It was not a mistake from Numsa to have those comrades closer to us.
Also the locals must have training structures where they will deal with issues. In our meetings we must prioritise training. Education officers must also play a critical role in assisting the training comrades from various sectors.
Maqungo Mphumzi, Delta
Workplace Skills Development Plan For Capacity Building For Shop stewardsAubrey ka Saki
“For shop stewards to be developed, a workplace skills plan [WSP] must be in place”, announced Numsa’s Eastern Cape skills development facilitator, Thembinkosi Rawula, at Numsa’s Uitenhage local at the end of March.
He said each local should establish a workplace skills committee to co-ordinate all local industries with regard to drawing up each WSP. “These local skills committees,” said Rawula, “will consist of all industrial training sub-committees led by their respective training representatives. They will in turn liaise with the region on a regular basis for updates and feedbacks”.
Replying to a question regarding the situation in all garages where there are not enough workers to form a sub-committee, Rawula said that “all garages and other smaller metal companies must frequently send their delegates as one unit to the Uitenhage Numsa local for capacity building.”
It was good to hear Rawula noting that workers in those garages must be trained and developed so that they know more than how to be petrol attendants. They should also learn technical skills to fix mechanical and electrical faults. Companies of such small workplaces should stop hiring so-called experts who charge huge amounts for repairing damaged work processes, and those monies can be used to improve workers’ wages and their lives.
Numsa’s EC region will meet soon with managements of metal companies. Where there are no training sub-committees, they must be formed immediately and progress reports given to local shop stewards councils, for them to report to the regional co-ordinator for the road ahead.
“Clock-in shop stewards will find no room to hide, let alone air to breathe”, warned the young and gallant impresario, Rawula.