Minimum wage a deal of hope and fear
Could SA be on path to greater labour stability?
There is cautious optimism that SA could be embarking on a period of greater labour stability, but business will pay a heavy price for an end to workplace strife
The package of labour market reforms signed last week by all the social partners apart from Cosatu contains arguably more wins for the labour movement than it does for business. But this is the price business is willing to pay to reduce labour market tension. Certainly, the introduction of secret strike balloting, advisory arbitration and agreed standards of conduct during industrial action (including by the police and private security companies) could reduce the propensity for violence and the length of strikes. But the price tag for securing labour’s co-operation is steep. The R20/hour (R3,500/month for a 40-hour week) national minimum wage (NMW) agreed to will raise wages across nearly half of SA’s labour force. Many private economists consider this a disaster for growth and employment, warning that it may wipe out the last pockets of low-skilled, labour-intensive work in SA. Government, business, the community sector and two of the three labour federations represented at Nedlac ...
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