South Africa 2013: The Year of the Strikes – part one

As 2013 goes down as a year characterised by headline-grabbing strike action, much of it violent, top advocate Ilene Power explains why we've had so much of it, who is to blame and what business leaders can do to prevent more of the same.  

Some of the reasons for all the strikes in South Africa this year are obvious. For starters, many of us aren't earning enough to pay for the basics, and this turns to anger when we are reminded of glaring pay disparities between bosses and the average employee. Then there is the complacency of managers to consider, who don't seem to be able to put themselves in the shoes of their employees when it comes to understanding how hard life is on a small income that doesn't keep pace with inflation.

In this first of a series, Ilene focuses on why employees strike. Next, she will be looking at conflict negotiations. Whether you're an employee or a boss, Ilene Power's articles should be essential reading as you prepare yourself for 2014 – JC

By Ilene Power

2013 seem to have one main dish on the menu, strikes a la king. Our Labour Relations Act and our Constitution guarantees the right to strike, yet the strikes that we see today are exaggerated and results in armed demonstrations that are violent.

There are ways of understanding why strikes occur and they can be prevented. Any strike, irrespective of its size can be an expensive exercise for you. Can your business afford to lose production because of a strike? Can you afford the relationship damage that often occurs during a long and acrimonious strike?

I firmly believe that knowledge and a better understanding of the various facets such as, the reasons that encourage employees to strike, misconceptions regarding management, conflict negotiations, bargaining tactics and inexperienced negotiators, interdicts and the court and last but not least, unions and their attitude in the case of a strike, will better equip you to deal with the unfortunate and challenging strike situations that we face in South Africa.

Why do employees strike?

Employees have a constitutional right to strike. However, strikes are not only expensive for the employer, but also for employees. Employees lose income during a strike (due to the no work no pay principle) and there is no guarantee that the employer will improve its offer.

Strikes could lead to a loss of orders and hence restructuring/retrenchments could become a reality as a result of the strike. The law also allows you to retrench people if their action (the strike) is causing operational damage.

So workers could legitimately lose their jobs because of going on strike. Some workers now even fear striking because of the negative effect the violence and intimidation causes in their communities.

Despite all the negative factors, we still see so many strikes! Why are employees willing to risk all of the above?

The main reason for industrial action and loss of work days during the 2004 and 2005 strike season was disputes over wages. Employees are willing to sacrifice pay to demand more pay!

Strikes are not always only about wages, but we have also seen strikes about improving conditions of employment. From a review of previous strike-seasons in South Africa, it seems that the most encouragement an employee needs to go on strike is a perception, even though it is inaccurate.

For example, an employee sees his boss driving a new car every 6 months, but the boss says he can't afford wage increases. The employee might not know the actual cost to trade a vehicle, but to his/her mind this seems unfair.

The unions also fuel these perceptions by broadcasting that managers are paid too well. Research reported by PE Corporate Services indicates that the wage gap between top corporate executives and lowest level employees is at its widest for more than a decade.

Some 10 to 12 years ago a chief executive of a medium size company was earning 38 times more than the lowest paid employee. Today it is over 50 times more.

The cost of food is rising and factors such as higher fuel prices, higher prices of basic necessities, the cost of plastic packaging materials and higher maize prices influences employees. These employees spend the majority of their income on these essential items, and it therefore has a major impact on their ability to provide these essentials.

In 2005 we saw strike action that had a very negative impact on the South African economy. These strikes were exaggerated, caused loss of life and damage to property and could not be contained.

In reviewing why these strikes had such an impact, we firstly noticed that managers made the mistake of being arrogant and complacent about strikes in their work place. Most employers failed to see that the living expenses of their employees were increasing and they failed to increase their wages accordingly.

This resulted in a feud of great magnitude in 2005, which is the case again in 2013. The price of petrol and electricity has sky-rocketed in the past few months and yet employers are perceived to not care that their employees are struggling to cope/survive.

We know that this is a very difficult situation to manage, because employers also have to consider the future of their business and the sustainability of high increases.

It is therefore paramount to negotiate these issues in a calm and professional manner.

Ilene Power's next article in this series looks at the impact of conflict negotiations.

* Ilene Power is admitted in the High Court of South Africa as an advocate and holds a BA LLB degree.  After her articles at law firm Klynveld-Gibbens Inc, she served the membership of the finance industry at SASBO, and in 2005 she joined the Legal Department of Solidarity, where her skills and expertise were honed, resulting in her becoming a highly experienced and skilful labour law practitioner.

Ilene has served on various Gender and Equity committee's and acted as spokesperson for Solidarity on workers' rights and gender equality. She was one of three individuals from SA in 2008 to study on full scholarship at the International Labour Organisation's Training School in Turin, Italy, where she received exposure to the global labour scene and intensive training on international labour law.