LRS56/GOODS 10.10.87

The industrial council agreement for Motor Transport Undertaking (Goods) in the Transvaal will be in force until 1990. Wages are negotiated annually, for implementation in January, but a compulsory arbitration provision comes into effect if there is a deadlock. This document is prepared to assist the Transport & General Workers Union in providing factual information to the arbitrator to back up the demand for a substantial wage increase. The union has rejected a final offer from the employers of an eight and a half percent increase in January 1988. Unfortunately, we have not received the wage demands of the union, so our report is not as focused as it should be

Is it Easier to Escape from Low Pay in Urban Areas? Evidence from the UK

In this paper we compare periods of low pay employment between urban and rural areas in the UK. Using the British Household Panel Survey, we estimate the probability that a period of low pay employment will end allowing for a number of possible outcomes, namely to a ‘high pay’ job, self-employment, unemployment and out of the labour force. The results show that there are statistically significant differences in the dynamics of low pay across urban and rural labour markets, particularly in terms of exits to high pay and out of the labour force. After controlling for different personal and job characteristics across markets, urban low pay durations are somewhat shorter on average, with a higher probability that urban workers will move to high pay. However, the results suggest that any urban-rural differences in the typical low pay experience are particularly concentrated among certain types of individuals, e.g. young workers, women without qualifications.Preprin

International Research Project on Job Retention and Return to Work Strategies for Disabled Workers: Key Issues

[From Preface] The International Research Project on Job Retention and Return to Work Strategies for Disabled Workers breaks new ground by examining the inter-relationships of public and enterprise policies and practices as they affect the retention and return to work of disabled workers. The enquiry encompasses public policies to promote employment of disabled people; benefit and compensation programmes; employment support and rehabilitation services; provision to adapt work and workplace; and measures developed and implemented by the enterprise. The Project aims not only to identify successful policies and practices which are transferable from one country to another but also to inform the development of effective, efficient and equitable job retention and return to work strategies for disabled workers. The ultimate objective is to develop strategies which can be put into effect in the workplace

Questions on wage policy

The question here is: should skill and training be rewarded with higher wages? If the answer is yes, how much extra should a worker get if he moves from a lower-skilled job to a higher- skilled job? How can divisions between workers be avoided? If the answer is no, how will the union be able to prevent employers from paying higher wages to skilled workers who are in short supply? Let us take the grade continuum as running from unskilled labourer to artisan. How many grades should there be in between? If there are many grades, confusion is likely as it will be difficult to tell the difference between one job and another. If there are too few grades, low-skilled workers will never move out of the bottom grade. In the iron and steel industrial agreement, there are twelve grades. In the clothing industry in Cape Town, twenty five different jobs are listed. Under the Paterson grading system, there are only nine grades between labourer and artisan. NUMSA has demanded that the number of grades in the auto industry be reduced from as many as eleven to only five

LRS47/ASSMANG 19.8.87

The Associated Manganese Mines of SA Ltd (called Assmang in this report) mine manganese and iron in the Northern Cape. This report is to assist the union in the first ever wage negotiations with this company. The union has 800 members in the mines at Black Rock, Gloria, Beeshoek and Kururnan. No information is presently available on the current wage rates for the workers. They ordinarily work a 48 hour, 5 day week at 9.6 hours per day. In 1986 a very small wage rise was given. Negotiations will begin on Monday 24 August for wages for the year July 1987 to July 1988

Bargaining monitor

Over the past few months, the Namibian labour movement - particularly the country’s largest trade union federation, the National Union of Namibian Workers (NUNW) - has been the subject of debate and media attention. Contradictory statements by union leaders, the NUNW’s position on the elections in Zimbabwe and the federation’s role in the privatisation of Air Namibia have raised serious questions about the vision and mission of Namibian trade unions. This article hopes to shed some light on recent developments against the background of the ongoing challenges facing the labour movement since independence

Taking employment equity forward at the workplace

In 1998 the South African Parliament passed the Employment Equity Act. This law seeks to help establish equity in the workplace. It prohibits unfair discrimination in employment and requires employers to practice affirmative action. Employers who are designated by the Act must promote the employment of blacks, women, and disabled people in order to correct the discrimination of apartheid employment practices. The idea of producing an education booklet on Taking Employment Equity Forward at the Workplace came out of a series of workshops that were run in Gauteng, Kwazulu-Natal, and the Western Cape in September and October 2000. The workshop programme was designed by the Labour Research Service and run together with Khanya College and the Workers’ College (Kwazulu-Natal). Affiliates of the trade union federations COSATU, NACTU, and FEDUSA were represented at the workshops, as were some unaffiliated trade unions. Of the 70 participants, 80% were shop-stewards and 26% were women. The main task of the workshops was to help participants gain some understanding of the Employment Equity Act so that they could help their trade unions to develop policies and practices around this legislation. This also meant that the workshops needed to explore workers’ experiences of discrimination in the workplace and the broader legacy of inequality left by apartheid capitalism. Experiences of affirmative action practices in other countries were also discussed in the workshops

Social Responsibility Report For Unity Incorporation

A feature of the social responsibility research carried out by the Labour Research Service during the year to September 1994 has been an increased emphasis on the monitoring of companies previously assessed by the board of Unity Inc. This trend is expected to continue as the Community Growth Fund expands and more companies are approved

The advantages and disadvantages of long-term collective bargaining within the Metal & Engineering Industry and Mining Industry

This report highlights the advantages and disadvantages of long-term collective bargaining within the Metal & Engineering and Mining industries. It does not aim to set standards but to provide useful information on the experiences of negotiators bargaining for multi-year agreements. To this end a questionnaire was designed to draw commentary from various role-players within the abovementioned industries on the issue under investigation

Budget presentation to the Worker's College, May 1996

Budget presentation to the Worker's College, May 199