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Medupi mess is result of Numsa strategy Albert Wocke, Business Day, Johannesburg, 16 August 2013 THE roots of the Medupi mess are to be found in a strategy by the National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa (Numsa) and its "stage management" of Eskom. The effect has been to undermine and almost nullify normal employer-employee relations. The result is labour strife that began in 2010 and has been largely continuous since last September. Numsa has put pressure on Eskom to squeeze concessions out of the contractors and ensure striking workers experience few consequences for unprotected industrial action. All the while, Numsa's power grows. The problem lies in an agreement initially signed in December 2008. The parties signed another, reviewed, version in 2010. The agreement deals with the specific terms and conditions of employment at the Medupi project, to which all employees there are bound, as well as the way certain disputes should be resolved. As the agreement is intended to promote stability and orderly interactions, a party cannot raise a demand independently of it. Essentially, it was intended to guide all labour issues at Medupi, except those related to salaries and conditions of service, as it was agreed the workers would be subject to industry agreements. Despite this, the unions and some employees have made demands and engaged in unprotected strikes. Crucially, the role of Eskom was not clear as it was neither a signatory nor party to the agreement. The agreement was immediately undermined and ignored by Numsa members, who have subsequently engaged in unprotected strike action almost weekly. Strike action at Medupi has followed a familiar pattern over the past year: a wildcat strike begins at one of the contractors about an issue that should have been dealt with in terms of the agreement. While the contractor tries to resolve the matter, the strike spreads to Numsa members who are employed by other contractors, and the whole site is affected. If the whole site cannot be mobilised to join the strike, the employees use violence or threats and destruction of property, which in turn leads to Eskom shutting down the site for safety reasons. The strike usually ends when Eskom intervenes and an agreement is reached in which Eskom requires contractors to suspend disciplinary procedures. In some cases it has also led to the payment of bonuses to get employees back to work. The strategy is frighteningly simple and effective in shifting the normal employer-trade union relationship to favour Numsa. It requires a pliable Eskom management willing to intervene between the contractor and employee. The continued success of the strategy also requires disputes, even minor ones, to be escalated across the site and for the site to be regularly shut down. In this way, Numsa forces Eskom to put pressure on the contractors to concede to its demands. Contractors are on occasion prevented from dismissing workers and have to pay amounts agreed by Eskom to get the people back to work. One would have thought Eskom and the contractors would have identified this strategy by now, but it is clear they have not. In fact, the employers, under pressure from Eskom management, are formalising the way things are done at Medupi (and Kusile). The contractors, trade unions and Eskom have replaced the agreement with a "final partnership agreement", which now includes Eskom. It also says employees at the sites are covered by industry-agreed wages and conditions of service, but sets up site-wide forums for further collective bargaining and consultation. This time, Eskom's role is unambiguous because Eskom manages the process. Thus, Numsa's strategy is formalised, creating another two forums in which it is able to press Eskom but, more directly, to squeeze concessions out of the contractors. In addition, the new structures virtually guarantee that disputes become site-wide. As a result, contractors are in a situation where they no longer have an employer-employee relationship with their staff and have to operate with the continued threat of interference. The influence and bargaining power of Numsa depends on bypassing the contractors completely and putting pressure on Eskom directly. The battles between the National Union of Mineworkers and Numsa for membership in Eskom and the construction of Medupi and Kusile will add to the already complex environment. This is a management headache that will only get worse if political will and management fortitude are missing. . Wocke is an associate professor at the University of Pretoria's Gordon Institute of Business Science. From: http://www.bdlive.co.za/opinion/2013/08/16/medupi-mess-is-result-of-numsa-st rategy# <http://www.bdlive.co.za/opinion/2013/08/16/medupi-mess-is-result-of-numsa-s trategy> -- -- You are subscribed. This footer can help you. Please POST your comments to [email protected] or reply to this message. You can visit the group WEB SITE at http://groups.google.com/group/yclsa-eom-forum for different delivery options, pages, files and membership. To UNSUBSCRIBE, please email [email protected] . You don't have to put anything in the "Subject:" field. You don't have to put anything in the message part. All you have to do is to send an e-mail to this address (repeat): [email protected] . --- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "YCLSA Discussion Forum" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/groups/opt_out.
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