Nxesi warns of militant labour, more unprotected strikes as SA hits over 4m union members

[rvZA]

A rise in SA union membership and the proliferation of several new splinter unions have had the unintended consequence of sparking more adversarial labour relations and a rise in unprotected strikes.

Nxesi said South Africa's union numbers grew from 3.5 million members in 2013/14 to over 4 million in 2020/21 and the number of registered unions rose from 203 to 220 over the same period, highlighting vicious competition for recruits in various sectors.

Nxesi was speaking at the Southern Africa Trade Union Coordinating Council (Satucc) worker congress on Friday.

Nxesi read these statistics as a growing trend of unions splintering off due to differences in how they believe they ought to negotiate wages with employers.

As SA union members climb to 4 million, Nxesi warns of militant labour, unprotected strikes | Business

Minister Thulas Nxesi said the rise in South African union membership to over 4 million had the unintended consequence of proliferation, adversarial talks, and a rise in unprotected strikes.

www.news24.com

 

[rvZA]

Good!

 

[Supervan II]

That's right, fu(k everything up - actually burn it down, you stupid, useless, brain-dead fu(kers!

 

[rvZA]

That's right, fu(k everything up - actually burn it down, you stupid, useless, brain-dead fu(kers!

Just imagine if these "unions" did things right and decent and the economy bloomed and they could have had 20 million+ members, instead of only 4 million.....

 

[Supervan II]

Just imagine if these "unions" did things right and decent and the economy bloomed and they could have had 20 million+ members, instead of only 4 million.....

Nah, striving for mediocrity is the thing. Success must be avoided at all cost.

Unless, of course, you successfully destroy it by burning it to the ground.

 

[grok]

WWMTD?

 

[TheChamp]

That is just a consequence of a workplace environment that is forever growing more hostile and oppressive to the workers, in a good environment workers don't even bother with unions.

 

[R13...]

That is just a consequence of a workplace environment that is forever growing more hostile and oppresive to the workers, in a good environment workers don't even bother with unions.

I'm not sure that's right. Union movements and their militancy grew thanks to the ANC's lackadaisical approach to enforcement and their allying with labour for votes. The work environment would have been even more hostile during the previous regime, but workers feared that regime. By your logic, that means the environment was better then than now.

 

[TheChamp]

I'm not sure that's right. Union movements and their militancy grew thanks to the ANC's lackadaisical approach to enforcement and their allying with labour for votes. The work environment would have been even more hostile during the previous regime, but workers feared that regime. By your logic, that means the environment was better then than now.

The numbers, I am not talking about militancy. Yes, I have always got an increase every year at my employer until some fatcat CEO showed his face here and started coming up with creative ways of ensuring that we went years without an increase, while introducing some unachievable metrics for bonuses for workers. It was the not a norm for our union to go to court to enforce signed agreements that were usually honoured without drama.

Yes it was the first time in recent history where the government simply reneged on a signed offer with unions representing the public sector workers.

Employers latched on to Covid to save money even though they could afford salary increases. The fatcat executives salaries has been forever going up while the workers got nothing or minimal increases.

And I don't understand why you would talk about the apartheid regime, of course workers feared that regime, nothing was normal about that time and it should never be used as a measure of anything. Even if the work environment was hostile and they were unhappy what would they do? It was o ly the brave who would join the unions be ause it was a huge risk.

We are now free and workers are able to join or not join the union as they please, you can now attach some meaning to the trends as they happen.

 

[Pegasus]

The numbers, I am not talking about militancy. Yes, I have always got an increase every year at my employer until some fatcat CEO showed his face here and started coming up with creative ways of ensuring that we went years without an increase, while introducing some unachievable metrics for bonuses for workers. It was the not a norm for our union to go to court to enforce signed agreements that were usually honoured without drama.

Yes it was the first time in recent history where the government simply reneged on a signed offer with unions representing the public sector workers.

Employers latched on to Covid to save money even though they could afford salary increases. The fatcat executives salaries has been forever going up while the workers got nothing or minimal increases.

And I don't understand why you would talk about the apartheid regime, of course workers feared that regime, nothing was normal about that time and it should never be used as a measure of anything. Even if the work environment was hostile and they were unhappy what would they do? It was o ly the brave who would join the unions be ause it was a huge risk.

We are now free and workers are able to join or not join the union as they please, you can now attach some mean g to the trends as they happen.

Next time you have issues at work try getting a new job.
You can search here:

Jobs in South Africa | Job search | Pnet.co.za

PNet is South Africa's number 1 job site. Search for jobs across South Africa. Find work. Recruit the ideal candidates. PNet your job portal.

www.pnet.co.za

Or maybe educate and upskill yourself.

No need to burn, break or intimidate other people who are happy with their jobs.

 

[R13...]

The numbers, I am not talking about militancy. Yes, I have always got an increase every year at my employer until some fatcat CEO showed his face here and started coming up with creative ways of ensuring that we went years without an increase, while introducing some unachievable metrics for bonuses for workers. It was the not a norm for our union to go to court to enforce signed agreements that were usually honoured without drama.

Yes it was the first time in recent history where the government simply reneged on a signed offer with unions representing the public sector workers.

Employers latched on to Covid to save money even though they could afford salary increases. The fatcat executives salaries has been forever going up while the workers got nothing or minimal increases.

And I don't understand why you would talk about the apartheid regime, of course workers feared that regime, nothing was normal about that time and it should never be used as a measure of anything. Even if the work environment was hostile and they were unhappy what would they do? It was o ly the brave who would join the unions be ause it was a huge risk.

We are now free and workers are able to join or not join the union as they please, you can now attach some mean g to the trends as they happen.

Nxesi doesn't say the rise in militancy is even related to the work environment, it seems it is just unionism as a business or more likely the mafia like behaviour they do exhibit.

"One of the unintended consequences of the 1995 Labour Relations Act's freedom of association was the proliferation of trade unions," said Nxesi.

Nxesi said there appeared to be fierce competition for membership among unions, to the point where some used collective bargaining as "recruiting turf", labelling their rivals as "sell-outs" and resorting to damaging strikes to distinguish themselves.

 

[TheChamp]

Nxesi doesn't say the rise in militancy is even related to the work environment, it seems it is just unionism as a business or more likely the mafia like behaviour they do exhibit.

Yes, I was giving my opinion, not saying Nxesi said that, my comment is strictly related to the growing numbers, not how militant they are.

 

[R13...]

Yes, I was giving my opinion, not saying Nxesi said that, my comment is strictly related to the growing numbers, not how militant they are.

Again, numbers are related to unions just recruiting aggressively at unrealistic promises which they are then forced to push through with violence, sabotage and intimidation.

 

[surface]

Next time you have issues at work try getting a new job.
You can search here:

Jobs in South Africa | Job search | Pnet.co.za

PNet is South Africa's number 1 job site. Search for jobs across South Africa. Find work. Recruit the ideal candidates. PNet your job portal.

www.pnet.co.za

Or maybe educate and upskill yourself.

No need to burn, break or intimidate other people who are happy with their jobs.

How did you manage to get a job despite BEE? You in Perth ?

 

[mojoman]

So nothing new then? Just a few more tyres will be burnt etc...

 

[TheChamp]

Again, numbers are related to unions just recruiting aggressively at unrealistic promises which they are then forced to push through with violence, sabotage and intimidation.

Numbers are related to workers seeing the value in their membership, if they didn't the numbers would be going down, not up.

 

[ToxicBunny]

That is just a consequence of a workplace environment that is forever growing more hostile and oppressive to the workers, in a good environment workers don't even bother with unions.

So I would say its a combination of both sides that have made the environment hostile. The Unions do not paint themselves in glory with their behaviour and demands, and some employers go out of their way to screw their employees.

 

[Pegasus]

How did you manage to get a job despite BEE? You in Perth ?

How do you manage to consistently post such stupid takes?

 

[ToxicBunny]

Numbers are related to workers seeing the value in their membership, if they didn't the numbers would be going down, not up.

There is also a heavy intimidation element in terms of Union membership... so its not just a case of "value in membership" unless you classify not being beaten up as "value in membership"

 

[porchrat]

We are now free and workers are able to join or not join the union as they please, you can now attach some meaning to the trends as they happen.

Sure they are.

Much like one is free to pay the protection money or get one's shop torched.