Report of the Portfolio Committee on Public Service and Administration on the First Biennial Labour Relations Conference for the public service held on 26-28 March 2007, dated 22 August 2007:

1. Introduction

The Public Service Commission (PSC) and the Public Service Coordinating Bargaining Council (PSCBC) jointly convened the First Biennial Labour Relations Conference for the Public Service. The theme of the conference was: “Knowledge Through Dialogue: Harmonizing Labour Relations in the Public Service.”

2. Conference aims and objectives

The aims and the objectives of the Conference were to:

· Harmonize labour relations in the public service through dialogue on various labour issues.

· Provide an opportunity for stakeholders to share views on the latest trends in labour law and labour relations in the public services.

· Encourage interaction between and among labour relations practitioners-both employer and labour representatives and other stakeholders in the field of labour relations in the public service; and

· Create a platform for the establishment of partnerships locally, regionally and internationally.

3. Delegation

Hon. N E Gcwabaza, MP (ANC) represented the Committee at the Conference.

4. Issues addressed at the Conference

The Conference deliberated upon various issues on labour relations in the public service through inputs, debates in plenary sessions and commissions, as follows:

4.1. Wage negotiations and other conditions of service

The Conference debated the advantages and disadvantages of the annual wage agreements and the multi-term agreements. It was pointed out that annual wage negotiations were more desirable to labour because they offer an opportunity to improve the wage of public servants on an annual basis. The employer should favour multi-term wage agreements because they are less cumbersome and allow the employer to implement wage increase within agreed broad framework over an agreed period of time.

It was pointed out that the willingness to bargain and to share ideas by both parties (labour and the employer) were critical for negotiations to succeed. It was also emphasized that social dialogue is necessary to enhance chances for reaching consensus and for the speedy resolution of disputes.

4.1.1. The following challenges were identified:

· Developing the capacity to negotiate and to understand the basics of labour law.

· A necessity to clarify roles on both sides so as to deal effectively with the question of interest against policy matters.

· Moving away from “talk shop” to “outcomes” in the bargaining process.

· Eliminating rigid positions on mandates, which are the major obstacles to agreements and consensus.

Prevention of disputes

The Conference noted that South African workplaces are still caught in adversarial mistrust, yet by this time parties should be at the collaborative and dispute prevention stage. There is a very low settlement rate in the Public Service – but the Private Sector appears much more ready to settle. Only 10% of grievances are settled in the Public Service. This low settlement rate of grievances results in both parties – the employer and the unions losing in the dispute resolution processes.

4.2.1. Recommendations on dispute prevention

Disputes must be resolved speedily and parties to the dispute must take conciliation seriously (it was pointed out that both parties had a tendency to undermine conciliation).

The tendency to appoint less experienced commissioners to conciliation/mediation should be avoided. This gives rise to the conciliation/mediation being taken lightly. The employer and labour should tolerate each other. Parties should manage conflict in such a way that it develops into a labour dispute that would be subjected to effective bargaining processes.

Issues with a potential to lead to a dispute should be identified and dealt with immediately.

Parties should keep the conflict resolution process as informal as possible and leave communication channels open. Parties to the problem should not unilaterally solve problems.

Parties must agree upon procedures for dispute prevention. The employer should avoid over-proceduralisation of conflict resolution.

4.3. Effectively managing discipline in the Public Service

A holistic approach is imperative. Effective management of discipline is about controlling and managing the emotions of employees successfully. It was highlighted that the employer should not cling onto bureaucratic power and labour should not threaten with protest power. Both parties should be prepared to make compromises without undermining their broad mandates.

Effective discipline was identified as critical for the enhancement of the values of the organisation and for correction of unbecoming conduct of employees. Programmes for induction and orientation of employees were also identified as important tools of managing discipline. The employer should investigate why the employee is misbehaving or under-performing before disciplining the employee.

4.4. Poor performance

The employer should provide training; assess the performance of the employee and allow him/her to assess his own performance. Delegates observed that some of the reasons for poor performance could be negligence, technological change, ill- health, incompatibility and unsuitability to the position or simple sabotages due to non-qualification to a performance bonus. Also, long probation periods could be the source of poor performance and indiscipline.

The Conference recommended that:

· Disciplinary processes should not be delayed.

· Causes for delays should be established and remedies found.

· Discipline should be corrective and progressive.

· Dismissal, being the harshest possible punishment, should be the last resort.

5. The role of the Public Service Commission (PSC) in labour relations

The PSC derives its mandate from Section 196 of the Constitution and the Labour Relations Act. One of the roles of the PSC is to promote sound labour relations in Public Service. The PSC must manage grievances referred to it in a manner that brings about speedy resolution of labour disputes. But the PSC faces the following challenges:

· Non-compliance to the grievance rules by Departments.

· Departments abdicate their responsibility to resolve disputes.

· Incomplete documentation submitted to the PSC by departments makes it difficult for the Commission to effectively address labour relations issues. This raises questions about the capacity of departments to keep records.

6. Role of the Public Service Co-ordinating Bargaining Council (PSCBC)

The PSCBC and its sectoral chambers are tasked with the prevention and resolution of disputes in the public service and to monitor the implementation of resolution of disputes. It also interprets and monitors the implementation of collective agreements.

7. Labour relations regarding poverty reduction and unemployment by the end of the second decade of democracy

The Conference noted that:

· Unemployment is structural; it is not related to business cyclical behaviour.

· Structural unemployment was inherited from the apartheid regime.

· Increase in expenditure is not necessarily going to resolve the structural unemployment problem and growth of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) does not translate to employment.

· 35% of the unemployed people are the youth and 60% of them never had employment.

· New entrants in the labour market exceed available jobs. Between 1994 and 2001 one million jobs were created, yet four million entered the job market in the same period.

· 200 000 people with skills are unemployed.

· The economy is capital intensive and not labour intensive.

· Public Service is small compared to other countries. It has the potential to grow but it has stagnated since 2000.

· There is need for a new paradigm in the country’s economy i.e. targeting the untouched sections of the economy and investing in the country’s human capacity.

· There is a necessity for an integrated program of economic growth.

· Government must develop incentives so that the economy is not only a shared income but also shared responsibility.

· Investing in the youth through free and compulsory education so as to develop human capital.

· There is a need to focus more on economic development rather than being excited only about economic growth.

8. Concluding observations and recommendations

Whilst the Portfolio Committee on Public Service and Administration was invited to attend the Conference, there was no specific role for the attendance beyond participating in plenary sessions and commissions. The Conference was very productive and, clearly, there is a necessity for the Portfolio Committee to participate in the future Labour Relations Conferences. Input papers on various topics were quite informative.