Progressive labour laws that protect the employee are a good thing....well, to a point.
Our laws, in my view, are too Pro employee. IF you have emplyed somebody and they do wrong, firing their arses is not the easiest thing on earth....and then, once you have worked through the million stages, they can still go to the CCMA for recourse. Usually if you have followed the million step process and have eventually fired the person, before your company is ruined, then it is ratified by the CCMA. But, as in any legal proceeding, it could go either way.
However, this is a legal minefield, and we will not be looking at this today but rather the endless strikes that we experience in the so called, Rainbow Nation.
To put a bit of perspective in the discussion, let's clarify the set up. Workers pay fees to the Unions, who in turn run like businesses as well as try to look after the worker's interests. In South Africa unions are also very political, so there is an added bonus for the country.
Hot on the heels of the countless strikes, BMW has announced that it will not expand it's operations in South Africa. This is due to losses of millions of Rands, due to strike action, thus hurting the economy and stunting job growth. Well done unions.
Economist Dawie Roodt reports that many investors are looking elsewhere to invest as South Africa is not seen as a desirable place to invest...and investors who are invested here, are looking to withdraw. Well done unions.
Even Pravin Gordhan, our minister of finance, apparently will attempt to do damage control..but how can you until the climate changes. It's like telling people to invest in boats in the middle of the desert...does not make sense.
It is a delicate balancing act, the unions (who's staff surprisingly get paid during the strike while many of the strikers don't) are charged with looking after the interests of the worker. On the surface it may appear they do. However, the unions sets a ridiculous benchmark, which it knows the employer will not meet. Then the negotiating begins......and while they negotiate, the workers strikes, often violently and destructively. The union leaders, liking to appear all powerful, do not back down for weeks. The strike continues. Both the worker and employer lose money. The union staff are paid.
Eventually there will be an agreement. The path of destruction costs the taxpayer millions to fix, as the striker usually runs riot and is more destructive that an atom bomb.
The worker goes back to work while the company tries it's best to recover from the demands it agreed to, under duress. The economy limps a bit more.
In South Africa, strikes are like the waves, one follows another and they seem endless.
In the long run, the worker will feel it negatively.
Firstly, the company may not recover from the financial demands placed upon it, and like in the mining sector, be forced to lay workers off. So, short term benefit leads to long term unemployment.
The unions employees keep their jobs.
The economy suffers due to the loss of income from industry. This leads to a stunted growth, higher consumer prices, higher interest rates for lending and so on. Once again, the worker feels it.
Investors from outside South Africa see this as a bad place for investment, and simply invest in another country, where they will gain a return from their investment. Who can blame them. The result- less growth in the economy, no new jobs, probably a loss in jobs long term.
Oh, the union chaps..they still have their jobs.
I have no doubt that there is a place for unions as the worker needs protection from big bad companies. However, they need to be reasonable and have leaders with some economic know how and less political ambition. Leaders with enough knowledge to understand where strikes lead and how they damage both the country and the member they so bravely defend. South Africa is not in a health position and the economy needs all the boosting it can get. Our pro employee labour laws and the constant striking are dragging it down even further. In many other countries, one would expect government to step in...but in South Africa, government is largely ANC members, who are in bed with the unions and rely on the unions for support come election time. So, despite what the economy looks like, these selfish fools will not be rocking any boat that keep them in the rich vein of funding that is available to the leaders.
Unless the government wake up and unless the unions stop their all powerful and selfish thinking, South Africa is not ever going to recover.
Posts
