Labour
Still seeking fairness on the farms
Farm employer organisation AgriSA last week met with trade union representatives in an effort to strike a deal to allow unionisation on farms — and especially in the winelands of the Western Cape. “Most farmers still will not allow union representatives onto their properties,” says Federation of Unions (Fedusa) general secretary Dennis George.
Terry Bell
Opinion | 14 April 2014
Strike focus must be on jobs, not wages
A crunch point has this week been reached in the platinum sector. Stockpiles are all but exhausted and striking miners are starving. In normal circumstances this would be the time when compromise is reached, a matter of who blinks first.
Terry Bell
Opinion | 8 April 2014
Where worker deaths remain a secret
In 1997 15 workers at the Sasol Secunda plant were burned to death in what was described at the time as a “catastrophic fire”. What caused the blaze that killed them, how did they die and could they have been saved? These were questions the next of kin and their union wanted to know.
Terry Bell
Opinion | 31 March 2014
NEHAWU protests in City
About 1,000 to 1,500 members of the National Education Health and Allied Workers' Union marched through town on 27 March to the offices of the Western Cape government.
GroundUp Staff
Brief | 27 March 2014
Mediation is an Honourable Profession
In an unequal society where conflict between employers and employees is inevitable, the role of mediators who help to minimise the damage to protagonists and to society at large, is an honourable one. Such is the role of the Commission for Conciliation Mediation and Arbitration (CCMA).
Terry Bell
Opinion | 24 March 2014
The week in political activism - March 19, 2014
This week we cover the NUMSA Day of Action for Youth Jobs and the TAC’s People’s Health Manifesto campaign.
Brent Meersman
News | 19 March 2014
Bitter background to stalled pay talks
Unless bridges are built between competing sides, legacies of bitterness, hatred and fear, often distorted by prejudice and myth, can persist for decades, even generations. And when there are are fairly recent incidents, especially those involving bloodshed and human loss, feelings, particularly among those who identify as victims, are all the more acute.
Terry Bell
News | 17 March 2014
Marikana: a wake-up call
Four days after the bloodletting that has become known as the Marikana massacre, my Inside Labour column supported the call for a comprehensive and independent inquiry. And it noted, reflecting a widespread view within the labour movement: “The Lonmin tragedy is a wake-up call that South Africa will ignore at its peril.” Now, 19 months later and with the strike on the platinum belt having gone on for nearly two months, that warning seems even more appropriate. Below is an updated commentary that first appeared on the first anniversary of Marikana.
Terry Bell
Opinion | 10 March 2014
The week in political activism
This week we have reports on civil society’s response to the budget and a documentary hosted by Sonke Gender Justice.
Compiled by Brent Meersman
News | 26 February 2014