Unions need new mind-set

We will hear more in future about the diminishing trade union membership in SA (NUM confronts debt issues and membership loss, June 21).

Unfortunately, but partially due to their own faults, trade union membership shrinks as employment numbers drop.

We can therefore expect greater desperation in union recruitment and greater rivalry between the unions.

It is about time that the union movement in SA had a rethink on its approach to the workplace. It doesn’t help to demand ever higher wages, as this just leads to more retrenchment and less recruitment.

We all know, but some unions don’t understand, that “money does not grow on trees”. In essence an employer will only employ if it is affordable and if doing so increases productivity.

The minute the productivity increase does not match the salary, the business owner will look to mechanisation, computerisation and even outsourcing.

Furthermore, manufacturers have the benefit of being able to source finished products elsewhere at lower prices.

The simple science behind employment needs to be brought into the training of shop stewards and union management.

As we face the next industrial revolution, it is vital for the unions to undergo a mind-set shift. The world’s biggest supplier of accommodation does not own or run any hotels, and the world’s largest taxi group does not own taxis or employ drivers.

This reality doesn’t sit too well with our archaic labour legislation or our old-fashioned approach to unionisation.

Unions are a vital cog in the economy and need to restructure themselves to ensure that they remain relevant, vibrant partners at the workplace.

Michael Bagraim, MP

DA labour spokesman