Wednesday, December 16, 2015

103. Trade unions*

The following is mentioned in the school curriculum statment:

The economy

Trade unions

Concept of trade unions; business and labour; brief historical development of trade unions; the role of trade unions; the responsibilities of trade unions; the role of women in trade unions; contribution of trade unions to sustainable growth and development

I do not know what teachers have to say about the last sentence. I do not believe that they will give learners a balanced view. The statement itself is biased since we know that many trade union actions, while beneficial to their members are not beneficial to the country and the populace as a whole. One aspect that is particularly damaging is the minimum wages that big business and big labour force onto non-consenting parties. Many small businesses cannot afford to comply with the wage agreements forced on them by collective agreements of which they do not form part but have to comply with since the Minister of Labour has to accept and enforce these industry agreements. This is damaging to workers that wish to enter the market at lower wages just to get a foot in the door. This is one reason why we have such huge youth unemployment figures - they are simply not able to be accepted by businesses at the enforced high wage levels.

S32 specifically is the clause which compels the Minister of Labour to extend private bargaining council agreements across an entire sector to control the unemployed and companies, usually SMEs, which were not party to the negotiations and cannot afford to pay higher wages and offer conditions agreed by larger firms and unions. The FMF seeked to change just one word from “must” to “may”, to allow the minister to apply her mind to what she does, especially concerning the wider socio-economic conditions within an industry, and to think about whether extending an agreement will harm new and existing jobs.

It also affects special and designated groups - The only competitive advantage that a disabled person a young person or a woman has in certain cases, is being able to work at a reduced rate - in a free economy this would be possible - but where unions are able to dictate minimum wages, their competitive advantage is removed and they will not be employed.

Now with the National Minimum wage being introduced the picture is eaven bleaker for those on the bottom rung. They will find it even more difficult to find employment.

So if you are an unemployed graduate or unemployed younger person (or any unemployed person for that matter) your choices are being limited by these arrangements...arrangements that the government make with parties "because they have your interests at heart", then they blame "white monopoly capitalists" for the situation. C.M.Heydenrych February 2017

No comments:

Post a Comment