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The Federation of Unions of South Africa (FEDUSA) met with President Jacob Zuma on Friday evening to discuss the state of the South African economy.  This meeting was attended by all social partners including organised labour, business and key government ministers and officials.
 
The constituents were led by the Presidents of Business Unity South Africa (BUSA), the Black Business Council, COSATU, FEDUSA and NACTU; and the overall convenor of the community constituency at the National Economic Development and Labour Council (NEDLAC).  Ministers from the Economic and Security Clusters were present at the meeting.  The FEDUSA delegation was led by its president, Koos Bezuidenhout, and matters discussed included slowing global growth, the industrial relations environment in the country, as well as the need to speed up the fight against poverty, inequality and unemployment.
 
FEDUSA was particularly interested in the discussions around the current turmoil in the collective bargaining arena.  As FEDUSA has campaigned over the past weeks, there was general agreement that the wave of unprotected strikes could seriously undermine the legal framework of collective bargaining.  The parties also spoke out strongly against and condemned the violence that has accompanied some of the strikes and public protests.
 
“We are glad that the President decided to call this meeting,” said FEDUSA General Secretary Dennis George.  “It is high time that the senior leadership of constituencies come together to talk about the current state of affairs.  There are many red flags going up and we need to make the right decisions now,” he added.
 
The constituents also agreed to take steps to improve public and investor confidence in the economy and to promote social stability, using their respective resources and capacities to build a partnership for development.
 
This meeting ironically took place exactly at the same time as when rating agency Standard & Poor’s announced the lowering of South Africa’s credit rating.  Reasons cited for this lowering include the strikes in the face of the ruling party’s conference at the end of the year, lacking social cohesion, low GDP growth, as well as fiscal uncertainties.
 
“We will have to intensify our campaign of social cohesion with a renewed focus on the triple challenge of high unemployment, deep inequality and unacceptable levels of poverty in our country,” said George.  “While we must be concerned about this rating adjustment, it is important to note that we are still in a much better position than developed economies like Spain, Portugal and Greece.  The bottom line is that all South Africans must play a leadership role in solving these problems, and we cannot expect that Government must do everything”, George added.
 
Friday’s meeting underlined the importance of defending the values of the Constitution and the Bill of Rights. Thus, they emphasised the need not to deviate from collective bargaining in favour of short-term solutions which do not assist in the long run.  This also echoed FEDUSA’s continued warnings of employers and employees disrespecting institutions within the collective bargaining framework.
 
The meeting urged law enforcement agencies to act firmly to curb lawlessness and violence, within the framework of the law, while welcoming the end of the truck driver’s strike.  FEDUSA played a facilitating role in breaking the deadlock by assisting three FEDUSA and NACTU unions to adjust their demands on the eve of the settlement to bring the transport strike to an end.
 
Support was expressed for the Marikana Commission of Inquiry and the parties urged people to participate freely, and for law enforcement agencies to assist in ensuring the right environment for people to participate, with the support of the community.
 
The parties noted the impact of the economic situation on the poor and the working class in the country and the need to address socioeconomic and social cohesion issues, including income disparities.
 
The parties agreed to use the terms of the 2009 Framework for the country’s response to the international economic crisis.  This framework agreement was negotiated at NEDLAC following the global financial crisis and proposed many new and innovative ways of conserving jobs such as the training lay-off scheme and business rescue plans.
 
Government tabled a document with a series of commitments by social partners at Friday’s meeting, including matters like a conference on infrastructure investment and regular high-level meetings of such nature to follow. It was agreed to establish a 2-a-side drafting committee to work on the document, and then finalise the document on Wednesday, 17 October 2012.
 
A high-level FEDUSA delegation will also attend the Presidential Infrastructure Investment Conference that will be held on 19 October 2012 to engage with investors and to will look among others at funding needs, skilling the labour force, generating jobs, facilitating growth of local businesses and industries, accelerating service delivery, fostering broader economic ownership and facilitating regional integration.
 
“We are very positive about this initiative,” said George, “and we hope that the result will be a package of concrete proposals.  “However, it is important that such initiatives should be aligned with current processes such as the National Development Plan and New Growth Path discussions.  We need well-planned and coordinated action to ensure we address these challenges successfully,” he concluded.