LESSONS FROM MARIKANA - PDF Free Download

LESSONS FROM MARIKANA AND THE PLATINUM STRIKE Presented by John Brand 25 June 2014

Courtesy: Greg Marinovich Introduction

Courtesy: Greg Marinovich Content THE MARIKANA CONFLICT A TENTATIVE ANALYSIS Manifestations Trigger Causes Aggravators Moderators

Courtesy: Greg Marinovich Content THE 2014 PLATINUM STRIKE KEY PROBLEMS WHAT NEEDS TO BE DONE

The Marikana Conflict Dynamic Courtesy: Greg Marinovich

manifestations moderators aggravators trigger causes

manifestations DISREGARD FOR THE LAW

Courtesy: Greg Marinovich DISREGARD FOR THE LAW

Collective Agreements Dispute Procedures Labour Relations Act Unprotected Strike DISREGARD FOR THE LAW

manifestations HOSTILITY DISREGARD FOR THE LAW

HOSTILITY Courtesy: Greg Marinovich

Courtesy: Greg Marinovich Anger Defiance Revenge Solidarity HOSTILITY

manifestations VIOLENCE HOSTILITY DISREGARD FOR THE LAW

Courtesy: Greg Marinovich VIOLENCE

Courtesy: Greg Marinovich Intimidation Assault Death VIOLENCE

manifestations VIOLENCE HOSTILITY DISREGARD FOR THE LAW NEW PLAYERS

Courtesy: Greg Marinovich NEW PLAYERS

Courtesy: Greg Marinovich AMCU Workers Committee Church NEW PLAYERS

manifestations VIOLENCE HOSTILITY POLICE ACTION DISREGARD FOR THE LAW NEW PLAYERS

Courtesy: Greg Marinovich POLICE ACTION

Courtesy: Greg Marinovich Shooting Torture Arrests POLICE ACTION

manifestations VIOLENCE HOSTILITY POLICE ACTION DISREGARD FOR THE LAW NEW PLAYERS GRIEF

GRIEF Courtesy: Greg Marinovich

manifestations VIOLENCE HOSTILITY POLICE ACTION DISREGARD FOR THE LAW NEW PLAYERS GRIEF FARLAM

FARLAM Courtesy: Greg Marinovich

CONSEQUENCES - 45 deaths and growing - Hundreds injured - Lonmin workers did not get a 22% increase as a result of the strike - Actually the maximum increase at Lonmin was 7.7% to the lowest grade - 10% 2011 increment - 7.7% settlement increment

CONSEQUENCES - The maximum actual increase to rock drillers at Lonmin was 3% - 10% 2011 agreement increment - R750 drill allowance previously agreed - 3% settlement increment - Lonmin workers lost ±12% of annual wages in the strike due to no work no pay - ±9000 Lonmin contract workers got nothing

CONSEQUENCES - All lost more in lost wages than they got in wage increases - The Lonmin contagion - Direct losses in gold and platinum amounted to R10.1 billion - Coal losses R180 million - Gold output fell 12% to 167 tonnes lowest since 1905 - Gold industry loses R349 million per day of strike action

CONSEQUENCES - R15.3 billion lost across all mining sectors - There was a R12.5 billion reduction in export revenues in 2012 - GDP growth forecast down from 3% to 2.5

manifestations moderators aggravators trigger causes

trigger

2010 Two Year Deal RDO s Miners Interim Increase IMPLATS Strike Mass Dismissal

manifestations moderators aggravators trigger causes

THE MONETARY WAGE? causes

R10 000 Rock drillers earn ±R10 000 per month R3 000 The average South African worker earns ±R3 000 per month

Of the average South African worker: 59% have pension 40% have medical aid 77% have UIF few workers have all 3 rock drillers have all 3

WAS A POVERTY WAGE A CAUSE? causes

WORKING CONDITIONS LACK OF TRI-PARTITE DIALOGUE BARGAINING STRUCTURES POLITICIANS THE SOCIAL WAGE BARGAINING SKILLS NUM causes

THE SOCIAL WAGE Courtesy: Greg Marinovich

Courtesy: Greg Marinovich Housing Refuse Removal Electricity Security Sewerage Education Health Transport Water Roads THE SOCIAL WAGE

Source: http://www.voanews.com Housing Refuse Removal Electricity Security Sewerage Education Health Transport Water Roads THE SOCIAL WAGE

Courtesy: Greg Marinovich Housing Refuse Removal Electricity Security Sewerage Education Health Transport Water Roads THE SOCIAL WAGE

Source: Austin Andrews http://www.sequential-one.com Housing Refuse Removal Electricity Security Sewerage Education Health Transport Water Roads THE SOCIAL WAGE

Courtesy: Greg Marinovich Housing Refuse Removal Electricity Security Sewerage Education Health Transport Water Roads THE SOCIAL WAGE

WORKING CONDITIONS LACK OF TRI-PARTITE DIALOGUE BARGAINING STRUCTURES POLITICIANS THE SOCIAL WAGE BARGAINING SKILLS NUM causes

Courtesy: Greg Marinovich WORKING CONDITIONS

Courtesy: Greg Marinovich Health and Safety Migrant Labour Wage Differentials Labour Brokers Unemployment Money Lenders Garnishee Orders Recovery Attorneys Discrimination Lack of Concern Lack of Respect

WORKING CONDITIONS LACK OF TRI-PARTITE DIALOGUE BARGAINING STRUCTURES POLITICIANS THE SOCIAL WAGE BARGAINING SKILLS NUM causes

BARGAINING STRUCTURES Courtesy: Greg Marinovich

Courtesy: Greg Marinovich Organisation Rights Problems Over Centralised Lack of Tiers Unresponsive BARGAINING STRUCTURES

WORKING CONDITIONS LACK OF TRI-PARTITE DIALOGUE BARGAINING STRUCTURES POLITICIANS THE SOCIAL WAGE BARGAINING SKILLS NUM causes

Very Adversarial Not Interest Based Poor Preparation Ill-informed BARGAINING SKILLS

NUM

Complacent Remote Ideological Bureaucratic NUM

WORKING CONDITIONS LACK OF TRI-PARTITE DIALOGUE BARGAINING STRUCTURES POLITICIANS THE SOCIAL WAGE BARGAINING SKILLS NUM causes

Courtesy: Greg Marinovich POLITICIANS

Courtesy: Greg Marinovich Poor service delivery Corruption

Courtesy: Greg Marinovich R25billion lost to corruption in government procurement

WORKING CONDITIONS LACK OF TRI-PARTITE DIALOGUE BARGAINING STRUCTURES POLITICIANS THE SOCIAL WAGE BARGAINING SKILLS NUM causes

LACK OF TRI-PARTITE DIALOGUE Courtesy: Greg Marinovich

manifestations moderators aggravators trigger causes

PAST UNRESOLVED CONFLICT MISTRUST ILLITERACY INNUMERACY UNREALISTIC EXPECTATIONS INACCURATE PERCEPTIONS MISREPRESENTATION POOR COMMUNICATION THE MEDIA POLITICS POLITICAL OPPORTUNISTS DEMONIZING POOR POLICING POOR MEDIATION aggravators

manifestations moderators aggravators trigger causes

moderators CHURCH NEED FOR PAY

manifestations moderators aggravators trigger causes

manifestations VIOLENCE HOSTILITY POLICE ACTION DISREGARD FOR THE LAW NEW PLAYERS FARLAM GRIEF PAST UNRESOLVED CONFLICT MISTRUST ILLITERACY INNUMERACY UNREALISTIC EXPECTATIONS moderators CHURCH NEED FOR PAY INACCURATE PERCEPTIONS MISREPRESENTATION POOR COMMUNICATION THE MEDIA POLITICS aggravators POLITICAL OPPORTUNISTS DEMONIZING trigger POOR POLICING POOR MEDIATION POLITICIANS BARGAINING STRUCTURES LACK OF TRI-PARTITE DIALOGUE WORKING CONDITIONS NUM BARGAINING SKILLS THE SOCIAL WAGE causes

2014 Platinum strike

2014 PLATINUM STRIKE - Deadlock at approximately 300% apart - AMCU s first move in the negotiation 2 months into the strike - 23 weeks of strike action - Extensive violence - 46% of annual wages lost by each striker - Total wages lost by workers R10 billion - Employees have lost R23 billion in revenue - Those workers still employed in 3 years time will only benefit then

KEY PROBLEMS The negotiation process

KEY PROBLEMS The negotiation process - Letter with a list of demands from the union - Rejection and low counter proposals by the employer - Assumption of eventual compromise - Lack of counter proposals by the employer - Superficial positional preparation

KEY PROBLEMS The negotiation process - Exaggerated motivation at the negotiation table - Demeaning of opponents - Threats to walk out and walk outs - Early declaration of disputes - Assumption that real negotiation will only take place with imminent or actual strike action

KEY PROBLEMS The negotiation process - Hope that an opponent will take fright and make concessions - Un-reciprocal concessions - Slow moves from concession to concession - Manipulation of information - Adversarial rhetoric

KEY PROBLEMS The negotiation process - Incremental removal of non-wage issues - Threats to use power - Benign uses of power - Widespread bad faith bargaining - All out strike action - Eventual compromise

Position Absurd Zone Insult Zone Position KEY PROBLEMS THE NEGOTIATION PROCESS Threat and Power Zone Position Haggle Zone Position PARTY A PARTY B COMPROMISE Position Position Position Position zone of potential agreement ZOPA Haggle Zone Threat and Power Zone Insult Zone Absurd Zone

Claimer Claimer = MEDIOCRE MEDIOCRE Outcome

Courtesy: Greg Marinovich KEY PROBLEMS Flawed organisational and collective bargaining rights

KEY PROBLEMS Flawed organisational and collective bargaining rights Platinum mines entered into restrictive Section 18 organisational rights agreements with NUM Representativeness was measured by signed stop order forms

KEY PROBLEMS Flawed organisational and collective bargaining rights The result was: newcomer unions, had to recruit thousands of members from outside a mine to get the most basic organisational rights

KEY PROBLEMS Flawed organisational and collective bargaining rights NUM became complacent because of lack of competition and failed to properly service members interests Workers chose to join AMCU Although AMCU became highly representative of significant communities of worker interests like, for example, rock drill operators, it couldn t service their interests or represent them in collective bargaining because it was refused basic trade union and collective bargaining rights

KEY PROBLEMS Flawed organisational and collective bargaining rights NUM, which didn t represent rock drill operators, agreed to wages for rock drill operators that were unacceptable to them An all or nothing war for majority status then broke out for AMCU to get official recognition and for NUM to retain it

KEY PROBLEMS Flawed organisational and collective bargaining rights The war had high stakes. The winner would have the benefits of: the full suite of organisational and collective bargaining rights full time shop stewards comfortable offices telephones and computers

KEY PROBLEMS Flawed organisational and collective bargaining rights The loser would have nothing This led to the production of fraudulent membership forms, intimidation, serious violence including murder and eventually to the Marikana tragedy When AMCU became the majority representative it has sought identical rights to what NUM had

KEY PROBLEMS Flawed organisational and collective bargaining rights AMCU entered into centralised, pattern collective bargaining with Amplats, Lonmin and Implats The collective bargaining was characterised by gross bad faith No strike ballot was held The strike was extremely violent

Courtesy: Greg Marinovich WHAT NEEDS TO BE DONE?

WHAT NEEDS TO BE DONE The social wage deficit Workers living conditions must be jointly addressed by Government, Employers and Unions

WHAT NEEDS TO BE DONE Strengthening of collective bargaining There have been calls to curtail unionisation, collective bargaining and the right to strike But, freedom of association, organisational rights and collective bargaining rights including the right to strike are enshrined in the Constitution The rights are therefore legally inviolable and are essential for a free market economy The problem is not the existence of the rights but how they are exercised and regulated

WHAT NEEDS TO BE DONE Organisational Rights Basic organisational rights must be granted easily with low thresholds of representativeness in appropriate constituencies to encourage a habit of coexistence between unions in the workplace Independently monitored ballots must be conducted to test representativeness

WHAT NEEDS TO BE DONE Duty to negotiate in good faith A duty to negotiate in good faith must be established

WHAT NEEDS TO BE DONE Designation of appropriate bargaining units In the absence of agreement the CCMA must be given the power to designate appropriate bargaining units within workplaces Unions must compete democratically for the status of representative collective bargaining agent in appropriate bargaining units

WHAT NEEDS TO BE DONE Minimum wage fixing The BCEA must be used to properly fix minimum wages

WHAT NEEDS TO BE DONE Tiers of collective bargaining Tiers of collective bargaining must be encouraged Workers actual wages and working conditions must be addressed as close to source as possible

WHAT NEEDS TO BE DONE Collective bargaining process centralisation must be accompanied by substantive decentralisation

WHAT NEEDS TO BE DONE Strike ballots Independently monitored strike ballots must be conducted in appropriate constituencies with appropriate quorums

WHAT NEEDS TO BE DONE Strike violence The Courts must have the power to declare strikes that are accompanied by high levels of violence as unprotected

WHAT NEEDS TO BE DONE Negotiation skills A negotiation academy to jointly train union leaders and managers (including executives) in modern mutual gain negotiation theory and practice must be established Negotiation with the following characteristics must be encouraged: Meticulous preparation Use of independent and trusted facilitators

WHAT NEEDS TO BE DONE The adoption of problem solving methodology The exploration of causes, interests, needs, fears and concerns

Effective negotiation

Problem Solver Problem Solver = GREAT GREAT Outcome