CAUSES OF THE CURRENT STATE OF THE LABOUR MARKET

1. CAUSES OF THE CURRENT STATE OF THE LABOUR MARKET Sakhela Buhlungu University of Pretoria 10 November 2011

2. FEATURES OF THE LABOUR MARKET • Unemployment • Work restructuring • Labour market flexibility – rhetoric vs reality • Weak skill development regime • Limited progress on employment equity • Legislation & regulation – confusion and weak enforcement • Conflict in industrial relations • Immigration policies and practices not aligned with labour market policies

3. HOW DID WE GET HERE? • Global economic restructuring • The negotiated political transition • Legacy of conflict in society & workplace • ‘Weak’ institutions • Dilemmas facing trade unions • Lack of consensus on shape of labour market • Poor schooling system • Discrimination in the labour market • Confusion around immigration issues

4. GLOBAL ECONOMIC RESTRUCTURING • Market regulation & the ugly face of globalisation • The reality of global competition • Work restructuring – where it hurts the most • Employment flexibility • Workplace - the ‘soft underbelly’ which shows weakness of current representation model • Problems of ‘regulated flexibility’

5. THE NEGOTIATED POLITICAL TRANSITION • Our labour market reflects the political compromise • Negotiated settlement emphasised continuity, not rupture • Assumption that everyone can look after themselves by forming or using institutions

6. LEGACY OF CONFLICT IN SOCIETY & WORKPLACE • Legacy of conflict in society still with us in all spheres • In workplace & IR the use of power to crush opponents still a dominant approach • Management intransigence • Worker ungovernability (siyayinyova) • The above are often encouraged/celebrated

7. ‘WEAK’ INSTITUTIONS • Capacity to act is often constrained • By politics • Lack of competence & insufficient knowledge • Limited resources • Unclear mandate • Resistance • Proliferation of weak institutions

8. DILEMMAS FACING TRADE UNIONS • Unions strong & weak at same time • Limited reach & representivity in some sectors • Limited reach in the workplace (eg. technology, restructuring, equity) • The ghost of ungovernability in trade unionism • Problems of fragmentation • Organising young & immigrant workers?

9. LACK OF CONSENSUS ON SHAPE OF LABOUR MARKET • Political/‘ideological’ differences among actors • Government policy based on ‘lowest common denominator’ • Differences and government indecisiveness create gaps for bypassing/flouting of laws

10. POOR SCHOOLING SYSTEM • School education crisis has serious & long term labour market implications • Feeds into massive youth unemployment • Also affects skills development initiatives • Virtually no co-ordination between departments

11. DISCRIMINATION IN THE LABOUR MARKET • Very limited progress • Mainly gender, race, rural, disability • Evidence is there but no meaningful action by relevant institutions • Trade unions show similar paralysis on this

12. CONFUSION ON IMMIGRATION ISSUES • A mixture of protectionism and chaos • Failure to regulate integration of immigrants in labour market results in bypassing of laws & undercutting by employers • Attacks on foreign workers partly driven by fear (real or imagined) of undercutting

13. SOME CONCLUSIONS 1 • Current state of labour market the result of: • global forces (that are not all-powerful) • Historical and cultural factors • Choices made (or not made) by actors and institutions • Capacity of institutions and organisations • Resources available

14. SOME CONCLUSIONS 2 • Indecisiveness for too long • The features of labour market identified require that choices be made urgently • There is a need for a comprehensive approach that connects the issues • Failing this the labour market will sink even deeper into a state of paralysis and chaos