In our afternoon roundup, see summaries
of our selection of South African labour-
related stories that appeared thus far on
Monday, 4 December 2017.
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Solidarity’s Q4 Labour Market Index edges toward neutral, but remains below key 50 score The Solidarity Research Institute (SRI), in collaboration with ETM Analytics, has released the October – December 2017 quarterly edition of the SA Labour Market Report and Index. Gerhard van Onselen, economics researcher at the SRI, elaborated on the findings as follows: “The Labour Market Index (LMI) continued its rise in the third quarter of 2017, but remained below 50. The LMI is a quarterly measure of job and wage security in the South African labour market. The index increased to 47.5 in Q3 from an upwardly revised 47.0 in Q2.” A score below 50, the index’s neutral level, indicates declining job and wage security. Van Onselen added: “Presently, the LMI is indicating that a downtrend in force from 2011 to the end of 2016 may have been broken. However, the fact that the index is stubbornly persisting below 50 is a telling indication of the structural impediments present in the economy.” He went on to note that measurements of labour affordability were especially concerning and pointed to companies experiencing difficulty in affording to hire new staff. Moreover, with employment growth very weak and high unemployment persisting, the employment picture remained gloomy. “Lingering job insecurity, retrenchments in some sectors and limited wage gains are likely to remain part of the South African employment landscape for some time to come,” Van Onselen noted. Read the SRI’s full press statement in this regard at Solidarity online. Download the LMI at Solidarity online Other internet posting(s) in this news category
Fedusa demands deployment of soldiers in Cape Town over festive season TimesLive reports that the Federation of Unions of SA (Fedusa) and its affiliates in the public health and rail passenger sectors will march on Tuesday to Parliament to demand that the minister of defence deploy soldiers in Cape Town over the festive season. The federation said in a statement that it wants Defence Minister Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula to deploy the army in Cape Town‚ where attacks on Emergency Medical Service (EMS) and rail services were at their highest. Fedusa president Godfrey Selematsela will lead the march between 11h00 and 14h00 alongside general secretary Dennis George and the provincial leadership of thousands of Hospersa‚ PSA‚ UNTU and all other Fedusa-affiliated unions. They will march under the slogan ‘Workers’ Lives Matter’. The march will end outside Parliament‚ where a memorandum of demands will be handed over to the ministers of defence‚ police and labour for them to “urgently address the dire security situation”. This short report by Nomahlubi Jordaan is at TimesLive. Fedusa’s press statement is at SA Labour News Other internet posting(s) in this news category
Amcu employees too scared to strike, even though CCMA has given go-ahead Mail & Guardian reports that staff at the Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union (Amcu) have been in a prolonged battle with their employer over wages but are too afraid to strike, despite a certificate that allows them to do so. The union that has famously fought for better wages for mineworkers has itself been dragged to the Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration (CCMA) for failing to meet its own employees’ demands. Even though two certificates permitting a protected strike to go ahead have been issued, none of the workers would confirm when or if the strike would happen, saying instead that employees were afraid to go on strike after four workers who raised issues were fired. One worker claimed the situation inside Amcu was unbearable and any kind of dissenting voice was silenced very quickly. “Those who were part of taking the issues to the head office and ending up at the CCMA are either fired or have been intimidated. Everyone is afraid to be the next one out or dead,” said one source. The issues raised with Amcu head office allegedly included how the union’s president Joseph Mathunjwa took unilateral decisions about pay increases and bonuses. Mathunjwa commented: “Our employees have rights and recourse in law as any other workers.” He added that Amcu was a progressive organisation with a competitive benefit system and provided performance bonuses to its employees at the end of each year. Read this report by Athandiwe Saba in full at M&G Postings on Mining Charter
Articles in the October–December 2017 edition of SRI’s Labour Market Report The October–December 2017 edition of the Solidarity Research Institute’s (SRI’s) SA Labour Market Report, published last week, contains a number of IR-related articles. The following informative articles are contained in the report:
Download the report, together with the latest Labour Market Index (LMI), at Solidarity online
Health department says final year medical students can appeal intern placements EWN reports that according to the Department of Health (DOH), final year medical and health students will be allowed to appeal their intern placement allocations. Dozens of intern doctors and final year students are said to be concerned as they have not yet been allocated a placement for either internship or community service positions in 2018. On Friday, when the DOH’s website showing placements went live, dozens of students were expecting to finally find out where they would be working next year. But a number of them were not allocated positions, while others were placed in areas they had not specified as an option. Gail Andrews of the DOH indicated that officials were willing to accommodate students who had justifiable reasons. Accordingly, the website would have a notice posted on Monday to explain the appeal procedure. Appeals will be given urgent attention. But, the DOH’s call centre has been instructed not to receive calls, until the situation has been “managed”. Andrews also said those students who had not received placements could be among those who were not eligible. This short report by Monique Mortlock is at EWN
Cosatu KZN challenges private sector employers on end-of-year bonuses Daily News reports that the Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu) in KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) has challenged employers in the private sector not to use the economic downturn as an excuse not to pay their employees year-end bonuses. Provincial secretary Edwin Mkhize said: “For many companies the first target when the economy is not doing well becomes the workers. The point we wanted to emphasise to the Department of Labour is that employers must not be allowed to dodge paying bonuses to workers. When the economy is hard hit, it’s the workers who end up suffering, particularly now that the festive season is upon us. We are warning employers not to use the economy as an excuse not to pay workers their bonuses.” He added that the festive season was often the only period when workers could spend quality time with their families. Bonuses would help workers to budget for their children for the new year. The federation also called for an amendment to the Labour Relations Act to penalise employers in the private sector who retrenched employees as an urgent measure to curb growing levels of job losses. Read this report by Samkelo Mtshali in full at Daily News Other internet posting(s) in this news category BankservAfrica index shows salaries gradually on the recovery path, at Fin24
Gauteng Education to meet Noordgesig parents over concerns with appointment of new black principal TimesLive reports that officials from the Gauteng Department of Education were due on Monday to meet with parents and community organisations opposing the appointment of a new principal at Noordgesig Primary School – allegedly due to race. The engagement comes after classes were disrupted at the school on Friday by parents and organisations claiming that the black headmaster was imposed on them. Gauteng Education spokesperson Steve Mabona said the new principal was recommended by the school governing body and was supposed to start working at the school last week‚ but disgruntled parties rejected him‚ because they preferred a coloured candidate who has been the acting principal at the school. Mabona said the protesters claimed the acting principal has led the school well and that she was qualified to hold the position permanently‚ but the department believed the protest was racially motivated. He added that they would listen to the concerns, but “we won't tolerate any form of racism in schools.” Read this report by Bafana Nzimande in full at TimesLive Other internet posting(s) in this news category
'UIF is a scam!': Angry claimants bemoan benefit nonpayment HuffPost reports about complaints on the part of a number of Unemployment Insurance Fund (UIF) claimants about nonpayment of their benefit money. Many South Africans are caught between jobs at times, or take maternity leave and have to depend on money from the UIF to survive while they do not have a stable income. However, Lelani van der Westhuizen said the labour department put her through immense stress when she was unable to access money from the UIF, despite qualifying for payments. One year and five months later, she still hasn't received any money –– or even any communication. "UIF is a scam, and we should not pay it, as it does not do anything for you," she wrote angrily on Facebook. Anne Cromhout is another victim of government non-delivery, in her case in respect of maternity leave. Two years later, she still has not received the payment. It took her about a year to pay off the debt from having no income for four months. But, Makhosonke Buthelezi of the Department of Labour (DOL) claimed that they cannot be solely blamed for delays. "The main cause is noncompliance by employers. While they pay UIF, they fail to submit the employment information every month as required by law. This results in UIF officials having to follow up with employers to get the information, thus causing delays." He expects things to improve with the new Unemployment Amendment Act. Read this report by Queenin Masuabi in full at HuffPost Other internet posting(s) in this news category
Year-end office parties downgraded to ‘junk status’ City Press writes that South African corporate holiday parties used to be extravagant affairs when workers got dressed up, companies rented out restaurants and there were open bars, live music and gifts. However, the country’s sluggish economy has forced many to trim their year-end function budgets – much to the dismay of the party planners and events management companies. Some party planners indicated last week that tough times have seen some companies downgrade their year-end parties, avoid the fancy venues and even force employees to dig into their own pockets to contribute. Dave de Jong of BlackJack Events said corporates were moving away from lavish wining and dining and opting for informal braais, canapés or roaming buffets. Apparently the trend of cutting back started around 2010, when companies that would easily spend R1m on corporate Christmas parties for 4,000 employees were spending almost half that amount this year. And companies that used to spend between R10,000 and R20,000 on their parties have trimmed their budgets considerably or have not allocated funds for year-end functions at all. But Carmel van Wyk, owner of Red Pepper Events, painted a different picture, saying they “have never been so busy” as this year. Read this report by Ntombizodwa Makhoba and Vukile Dlwati in full at Fin24 Other internet posting(s) in this news category
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