The union movement and South Africa's transition, 1994 - 2003
- Authors: NALEDI
- Date: 2003
- Subjects: NALEDI
- Language: English
- Type: text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/154168 , vital:39617
- Description: The new government faced enormous challenges when it came into office in 1994. For starters, the outgoing Apartheid leaders had thoroughly plundered the state coffers, awarding themselves and white civil servants massive pensions and 'golden handshakes'. The budget deficit was almost 9% of GDP The country/ had barely three weeks foreign exchange reserves, with a balance of payments crisis looming. The majority of inherited civil servants were generally hostile to the new government. The 'deep structures' of the State — by which I mean the ingrained habits and behaviour — were also generally hostile to the objectives of the democratic State. In addition, poverty levels were very high, and income inequality was among the worst in the world. And, of course, South Africa had the most institutionalised forms of racism in the world, which permeated through every law' and practice.
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- Date Issued: 2003
Employee ownership in the context of globalisation: a developing country perspective
- Authors: NALEDI
- Date: 2002
- Subjects: NALEDI
- Language: English
- Type: text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/153882 , vital:39532
- Description: This paper represents an initial set of ideas focused on employee ownership within the developing country context. The central question being explored is ‘To what extent can employee ownership support the broader goal of poverty reduction in South Africa (and, by extension, in the developing country context)?’. This is a rather broad question, and as such this note sets out to begin the discussion on this question, rather than seek to provide a definite set of answers. The critical perspectives put forward in this note draw heavily on experiences and debates in South Africa, and particularly those within the labour movement.
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- Date Issued: 2002
Discussion document prepared for COSATU Gender Conference
- Authors: NALEDI
- Date: 2000
- Subjects: NALEDI
- Language: English
- Type: text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/151190 , vital:39037
- Description: Despite the massive contribution women make around the world, they still fall into the category of the poorest and the most oppressed. Women have borne the brunt of the social costs of the changes in the world economy such as globalisation, increased international competition, structural adjustment and the deregulation of labour legislation. Massive technological advances have done little to benefit women around the world. In fact, in many instances it has actually increased their hardships. Multinational companies search the globe for areas that offer cheap labour and poor working conditions. Globally, women make up the bulk of the army of so-called “flexible”, cheap workers sought after by employers anxious to increase their profits. It is women who are mostly to be found in sweatshops and who are least likely to be organised. In South Africa, there is already a significant trend of homeworking in the clothing sector and casualisation in the retail and other sectors. And when they are organised into unions, women struggle to be recognised as leaders in those movements.
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- Date Issued: 2000
Globalising poverty: The gender dimension to Job Losses, Casualisation and Poverty
- Authors: NALEDI
- Date: June 2000
- Subjects: NALEDI
- Language: English
- Type: text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/167919 , vital:41522
- Description: Despite the massive contribution women make around the world, they still fall into the category of the poorest and the most oppressed. Women have borne the brunt of the social costs of the changes in the world economy such as globalisation, increased international competition, structural adjustment and the deregulation of labour legislation. Massive technological advances have done little to benefit women around the world. In fact, in many instances it has actually increased their hardships. Multinational companies search the globe for areas that offer cheap labour and poor working conditions. Globally, women make up the bulk of the army of so-called “flexible”, cheap workers sought after by employers anxious to increase their profits. It is women who are mostly to be found in sweatshops and who are least likely to be organised. In South Africa, there is already a significant trend of homeworking in the clothing sector and casuahsation in the retail and other sectors. And when they are organised into unions, women struggle to be recognised as leaders in those movements. With massive retrenchments in the South African economy, more and more women are being pushed out of the labour market. Women’s unemployment rate is higher than men’s world-wide. The spate of retrenchments and job losses in the last few years have been described as a “job loss bloodbath”. According to recent statistics 1 million jobs have been lost since 1994 - what does this say about GEAR’S employment record? The mining and construction industries have suffered the largest job losses in the South African economy. While the workforce in these industries is predominantly male, and mostly migrant labour, the impact on women and families in rural areas is high, given the extreme rates of unemployment and poverty and their reliance on remittances. The clothing, textile, leather and footwear industry, which is female-dominated, has also been hard hit by retrenchments - approximately 76 000 jobs have been lost since 1995.
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- Date Issued: June 2000
Women Leadership in COSATU
- Authors: NALEDI
- Date: 1999
- Subjects: NALEDI
- Language: English
- Type: text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/151370 , vital:39059
- Description: The aim of this paper is to provide updated figures on women’s representation in leadership structures in COSATU. These figures enable the federation to review progress and to set targets for women’s leadership, as resolved in the 1997 COSATU Congress. The paper provides the most recent statistics (for 1998) on women’s leadership in COSATU at regional and national level. The intention of this report was to focus on collecting the actual figures and is therefore confined to a more quantitative (statistical) reflection on women’s leadership. It will be valuable to embark on further research that examines the qualitative aspects, in other words, women’s experiences of leadership.
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- Date Issued: 1999
Women Leadership in COSATU
- Authors: NALEDI
- Date: 1999
- Subjects: NALEDI
- Language: English
- Type: text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/151630 , vital:39155
- Description: The aim of this paper is to provide updated figures on women's representation in leadership structures in COSATU. These figures enable the federation to review progress and to set targets for women’s leadership, as resolved in the 1997 COSATU Congress. The paper provides the most recent statistics (for 1998) on women’s leadership in COSATU at regional and national level. The intention of this report was to focus on collecting the actual figures and is therefore confined to a more quantitative (statistical) reflection on women’s leadership. It will be valuable to embark on further research that examines the qualitative aspects, in other words, women’s experiences of leadership.
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- Date Issued: 1999
Legislative provisions, origins, and transformative possibilities
- Authors: NALEDI
- Date: 1998
- Subjects: NALEDI
- Language: English
- Type: text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/151359 , vital:39058
- Description: This research report was commissioned by NALEDI as part of its long term research project on Co-determination and Tripartism in South Africa. The transition to democracy in South Africa has been accompanied by a range of institutions and processes through which ordinary workers and their organisations may gain varying degrees of control over economic decisions that directly affect their lives. Scholars and practitioners have focussed attention on parts of these changes - such as NEDLAC or the workplace forum provisions of the Labour Relations Act - while missing its more systematic features: its wide scope from the factory floor to the societal level, and the extent to which labour has obtained strong decisionmaking and consultation rights founded in both statute and agreement. Taken together these features have the potential to deepen dramatically the political democracy won in 1994. Yet these developments are generally untheorised and remain seriously underresearched. In mid-1996 NALEDI embarked on this long term research project to investigate the dramatic changes that are occurring regarding worker representation at the workplace, industry, and societal levels. The full list of reports produced by this project is set out below. While the contributions are academically informed, they are aimed at examining key issues in a critical fashion to inform trade unionists and contribute to labour movement policy debates.
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- Date Issued: 1998
Policy Memo - Engineering hours of work
- Authors: NALEDI
- Date: 1997
- Subjects: NALEDI
- Language: English
- Type: text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/151200 , vital:39038
- Description: The National Union of Metal Workers of South Africa (Numsa). following Cosatu, has since its foundation argued for a 40 hour week and a ban on overtime to increase employment. The goal of a shorter working week should not. however, limit itself to employment. Metal workers work long, hard hours, an average 49 hour week in 1995. (ILO.1996:334) Shift workers often work longer, with serious health and safety risks, including shorter lives. A poor and inefficient transport system cuts at least another 5 to 10 hours a week from the time urban africans spend away from home, community and leisure. (CSS. 1995)1 Workers too must have the right to a healthy work environment and proper access to leisure time and family. The organisation of working time is also important, impacting on the ability of workers to effectively access education and training.
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- Date Issued: 1997
Research report
- Authors: NALEDI
- Date: 1997
- Subjects: NALEDI
- Language: English
- Type: text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/151396 , vital:39063
- Description: The intention of this paper is to highlight debates and issues regarding the use of guota systems in strengthening women’s leadership in the labour movement. The paper is aimed at broadening the debate from mere acceptance or rejection of the guota. Debates on the use of guotas tend to be heated and controversial and can lose sight of the central objective, which is the development of strategies for women’s empowerment. A large proportion of trade unions internationally have adopted forms of the quota system as a strong measure to deal with the ongoing under-representation of women in leadership. The quota system has also been introduced effectively in a number of parliaments all over the world, including South Africa. The countries with the highest representation of women in parliament have all had to use quotas to achieve this. The paper draws from a review of some of the international literature, as well as interviews undertaken with trade unionists and parliamentarians (see Appendix A for a list of interviewees). This paper will also highlight some examples where quota systems have been adopted, including three COSATU affiliates, namely CWIU, NEHAWU and SAMWU.
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- Date Issued: 1997
Background Information for Wage Bargaining
- Authors: NALEDI
- Date: 1995
- Subjects: NALEDI
- Language: English
- Type: text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/151343 , vital:39057
- Description: This booklet’contains information to assist unions in the coming wage round. It was prepared as an information package for a wage bargaining workshop. It begins with a section that reviews economic trends, including growth, unemployment and inflation. At the end of the booklet is a more detailed article on inflation taken from the South African Labour Bulletin, showing why the official inflation rate underestimates the level of inflation for the poor. The next section covers employer comments regarding the coming wage negotiations. It includes information on wage levels, the apartheid wage gap and estimates on labour as a proportion of costs. Lastly there is a calendar showing when Cosatu members, and their unions implement wage increases.
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- Date Issued: 1995
Policy Memo - Renegotiating the SACU agreement
- Authors: NALEDI
- Date: 1995
- Subjects: NALEDI
- Language: English
- Type: text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/151381 , vital:39062
- Description: South Africa is in the process of renegotiating the Southern African Customs Union Agreement with Botswana, Lesotho, Namibia and Swaziland. The origins of the Agreement date back to 1889 making this one of the world’s oldest customs union agreements. The present version of the Act dates back to 1969. Since that time various conflicts have arisen between member countries regarding the objectives and operations of the agreement. Given the new political situation and the changing international trade climate, a decision has been made to renegotiate the agreement entirely. Discussions are now underway and these are being co-ordinated through the Customs Union Task Team which comprises representatives of the various countries. The South African government, through the Department of Trade and Industry recently held a workshop in order to brief interested parties. Parties have been invited to comment on the process and the Department has agreed to involve the Nedlac Trade and Industry chamber in any decision about the future of SACU.
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- Date Issued: 1995
Women at work
- Authors: NALEDI
- Date: Dec 1995
- Subjects: NALEDI
- Language: English
- Type: text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/167908 , vital:41521
- Description: The research report emanates from the NALEDI Women and Work research group. In 1994 COSATU’s Congress called for the establishment of a research group at NALEDI to explore the position of women workers. After discussions between COSATU National Women’s Sub-Committee and NALEDI, the Women and Work Project was conceived. The project comprises of two research programmes: firstly, an examination of the problems experienced by women at the workplace, and, secondly, an examination of the position of women in the trade unions. This report is the first leg of that project. It is envisaged that the second leg (on women in trade unions), will be completed by the end of 1995. This report is primarily aimed at synthesising existing literature and does not necessarily generate new information. The report identifies key problems experienced by women at the workplace and recommends policy options for unions, employers and the government. However, the report does not consider all problems experienced by women at the workplace. For example, key issues like education, training,' health and safety are not dealt with here.
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- Date Issued: Dec 1995
National Labour and Economic Development Institute Annual report
- Authors: NALEDI
- Date: 1994
- Subjects: NALEDI
- Language: English
- Type: text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/151179 , vital:39036
- Description: The National Labour & Economic Development Institute (NALEDI) opened its doors in October 1993 and began its research programme at the beginning of 1994. NALEDI is an initiative of the Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu). Its aim is to conduct policy-relevant research of interest to the labour movement. The origins of the institute date back to Cosatu's 1991 national congress which recognised the need to improve the research capacity of the federation. A feasibility study was conducted. This attempted to define the research needs of the federation and its affiliates. It also examined the experience of other union- linked institutes such as FAFO in Norway and DESEP in Brazil, and explored Cosatu's experience with service organisations and associated research groups. In early 1993 Cosatu's central executive committee endorsed the establishment of a labour research institute and raised funds (primarily from the Dutch union movement the FNV) to commence operations. Jeremy Baskin was appointed to get the institute functioning and a board was appointed to assist.
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- Date Issued: 1994