Things cannot continue as usual

Madam,

This should be an obvious concept for all, yet on a daily basis we witness workers being denied their most basic human and labour rights by employers. If we are to advance as a society, then we need to ensure all citizens, including workers, and in particular our most vulnerable, enjoy their full constitutional rights.

Our Constitution spells out the inalienable human rights of all citizens, including the rights of workers and compels the State to extend socio-economic rights to all communities, in particular the poor. It is no small feat that free primary education, with free meals, scholarships for tertiary education as well as social grants have been rolled out to thousands of our most impoverished citizens.

Workers are guaranteed the right to unionise, collective bargaining and to strike. Workers now have the right to minimum and maximum working hours, to be paid time off and overtime pay and to be paid leave, including maternity leave.

While we celebrate these progressive victories, more must be done. There are things the government has done and must do. Equally, there are responsibilities that employers and the private sector must fulfill and on many fronts, they are failing.

TIGHTENED

Parliament tightened laws for those who harass and abuse women, girls and other vulnerable persons at the workplace and elsewhere. Yet thousands of women are subjected to the most horrific levels of gender-based violence and sexual harassment, including by their employers and colleagues.

Workers are entitled to paid leave and other labour rights, yet they are often scared to exercise these rights out of fear of being dismissed, wary of going to an overstretched Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration (CCMA), unable to afford a lawyer to take a case to the courts and scared of losing their job in an economy with a high unemployment rate.

SCANDALOUS

Organised business bemoans the public service wage bill, yet it is silent on the scandalous pay regime in the private sector.

The litany of corruption scandals we have witnessed, in particular in the health sector, are mind-boggling.

The country has no shortage of challenges, but our greatest and most dangerous is our high youth unemployment rate. That is a ticking time bomb that we ignore at our peril.

It is time that leaders of organised business and the private sector play their part.

Yes, government must pass laws, invest in the public service and infrastructure and deal with crime and corruption.

But business too needs to do its bit. This includes abiding by our labour laws, investing in the skills and career paths of its employees, looking for alternatives to retrenchments, paying workers a living wage and reducing the wage gap between the highest and lowest-paid employees.

These are the foundations for a growing economy and a thriving society. These are the ingredients for a social compact between government, business and labour. What it requires is leadership from business and the acceptance that things cannot continue as usual.

Solly