Minister says reports of workers caged in factories worries him

Employment and Labour Minister Thulas Nxesi says the Labour Relations Act (LRA) provides protection against victimisation of workers.

He was speaking last week during the Commission for Conciliation Mediation and Arbitration’s (CCMA) fourth annual Labour Conference about the importance of effective legislation and dispute resolution institutions in promoting labour market stability, peace and equity.

Nxesi said despite myriad problems in the labour market, the LRA, enacted in 1995, still remained the principal labour legislation in South Africa.

This comes after Nxesi expressed concerns of emerging slavery-like working conditions, where workers were caged in factories to work for 24 hours, adding the department did not have enough inspectors to keep an eye on all places of employment.

However, he said the department, through the inspectorate, would come down hard on employers violating labour legislation and condemned employers who were budgeting to pay fines.

Nxesi said the LRA was introduced after years of discriminatory labour laws, and “what we would now deem to be unfair labour practices in the labour market. This act also provides for a system of statutory dispute resolution”.

“The introduction of the CCMA in 1996 was breaking new ground, and continues to play a fundamental role in the dispute resolution arena. CCMA rules were developed to ensure that arbitrations and conciliations remain just and fair practice and exercised equally in all cases,” he said.

He said his assessment would be that the CCMA has delivered on the implementation of this legislation, strengthening workers’ rights and supporting social justice.

“One measure of the effectiveness of legislation and the CCMA is through public awareness. There can be few employers and employees – perhaps in some remote areas – who are not acquainted with the terms ‘unfair labour practice’ and ‘unfair dismissal’ or the role that the CCMA plays in facilitating a settlement,” said Nxesi.

He also raised concern over the proliferation of unions which was having a negative impact on workers.

“It appears there is fierce competition for membership to the point where some trade unions are using collective bargaining as a recruiting turf for membership by portraying their rivals as ‘sell-outs’ and by resorting to intransigent tactics.

“This is an important area where the CCMA plays a role in facilitating the settlement of long and damaging strikes,” he said.

He said the department has witnessed an increase in the number of “unprotected” strikes in recent years. He said there is less respect for collective bargaining institutions.