One of the key objectives to amending the Basic Conditions of Employment Act (BCEA) is to protect vulnerable workers from exploitation, members of Portfolio Committee on Labour were told.
Addressing members of the Portfolio Committee on Labour in Cape Town today (September 18), Department of Labour (DoL) Chief Director: Collective Bargaining Thembinkosi Mkalipi said the amendments to the Basic Conditions of Employment Act (BCEA) were proposed to give the Labour Minister powers to intervene to halt exploitation of vulnerable workers. He said most of sectors where vulnerable workers work there was no organisational capacity at worst and at best, the organisational ability was very workers.
Quizzed by MPs who were questioning the relevance of the National Economic and Labour Council (Nedlac), Mkalipi came out in defence of the body saying that although there were number of disagreements, it was still an essential tool for social dialogue.
Opposition party members of the committee expressed concerns that the amendments to BCEA would predispose the Minister of Labour to abusing his/her powers if the clause(s) on intervention was approved.
Mkalipi retorted that: “No Minister could pronounce unilaterally without expert advice, as if he or she is in a beer hall when deciding on sectoral determinations”.
He said in terms of the amendments of BCEA, the Labour Minister would not have carte blanche powers. He argued that in terms of law when effecting sectoral determination the Minister consults with the Employment Conditions Committee (ECC) for advice. He said in instances where the minister abuses his or her power the aggrieved party could use judicial processes to seek a review or have the decision set aside.
The ECC is an independent body made up of business, labour and experts in the field of labour. The committee advices the minister on matters of sectoral determination – those that deals with conditions of employment in relation to wages, conditions of employment, among others.
Mkalipi said the amendments do also provide for requests of exemptions the intention of amending the BCEA was to encourage and not undermine collective bargaining. However, in cases where the was no industry agreement because the Bargaining Chamber(s) was lazy and not doing its work, the Minister would now be able to intervene. On the broader scope of amendments, in terms of sectoral determination, the proposed changes would give the Minister powers to be able not only increase the minimum wages, but also effect increases on actual wages.
Mkalipi allayed fears that the interventions of the Minister would also weaken powers of trade unions.
He said another the key policy imperative was to ensure that disputes were eliminated if not minimised. He said the amendment of BCEA would ensure that there was little strike as far as possible by ensuring that it becomes easy for unions to obtain organisational rights by easing minimum percentage on recognitions.
Another area in the amendments that would receive the attention of Minister was the clause that deals with the less favourable tag as applied in the case of vulnerable workers as per Basic Conditions of Employment Amendment Bill.
The committee is expected to hold further discussions on the amendments to the Basic Conditions of Employment Bill next week.
The BCE Bill was recently submitted to Parliament together with the Labour Relations Amendment Bill. The bills are among a raft of other labour legislations currently under review including the Employment Equity Amendment Bill and the newly introduced Public Employment Services Bill.
Enquiries:
Musa Zondi
Tel: 012 392 9625/ 021 466 7167
Fax: 012 320 1942/ 021 462 2832
E-mail: musa.zondi@labour.gov.za
Amendments to Basic Conditions of Employment Act (BCEA) will give Labour Minister, Mildred Oliphant more powers to protect vulnerable workers
