Labour Minister Mildred Oliphant on Wednesday said that she would meet with the trade union leadership to discuss the “adversarial nature” of the country’s industrial relations and explore ways to arrest the “potential threat” to the system of collective bargaining.

She also said that her department would host a labour relations indaba to enable stakeholders and role-players to engage regarding the future of collective bargaining in South Africa.

“We want to generate greater interests and concerns of social partners in respect of labour relations conflict, and identify measures to strengthen labour relations and dialogue to achieve labour market stability and peace,” Oliphant said in her Budget Vote address in Parliament, adding that the Department of Labour (DoL) was working closely with the National Economic Development and Labour Council and the Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration to achieve this.

The Minister noted that her Budget Vote took place at a critical time, when South Africa was entering the collective bargaining season.

Oliphant highlighted that recent ructions in the mining sector, especially in the platinum belt, had left in its wake a changed collective bargaining framework and a considerable dent in the economy, the effects of which will be felt well into the future.

“Our country is steeped in the art of negotiation and dispute resolution and for this reason, the DoL, in concert with other affected departments, has engaged organised labour and organised business in concluding a peace and stability framework for the mining sector. Talks are also continuing about the character of a new centralised bargaining arrangement in the platinum sector,” she said.

The DoL would also explore areas that presented partnership possibilities, such as capacity building and communication. 

“For the collective bargaining institutions to work, we need strong and sophisticated union organisations and strong employer bodies. The bulk of the troubles in the collective bargaining processes mirror the state of organisation in the parties that are involved,” Oliphant put forward.

Looking at the year ahead, the Minister urged that all stakeholders would have to work together to achieve a peaceful environment in labour relations and collective bargaining.

“This is not a task for government alone. It is one that requires all employers, employees and their organisations to renew our common loyalty to our country and our commitment to its future…we need to take our destiny into our own hands and find long-term solutions to the challenges that face the future of labour relations and collective bargaining.

“Out of the pain of Marikana and other hotspots, a nation united in the view of how it wants to deal with challenges of industrial relations will rise,” the Minister stated.