WORKPLACE DISCRIMINATION

COMMENTS FROM CWU, COSATU, NEHAWU, NUM, SATAWU AND SACTWU

Overview

• Introduction

• Understanding of Employment Equity

• Experiences of Unfair Discrimination

• Employment Equity Processes

• Interaction with other laws & the Role of the Courts

• Compliance Mechanisms

• Conclusion

Introduction

• Not a comprehensive report

• Based on:– Workshop by COSATU Western Cape Office– Questionnaires sent to affiliates – Two Research Studies

• Cosatu Workers Survey 2006

• Women on Farms Project 2006

Level of Understanding of EE

• Employees– Only notices posted but no explanation– No training, awareness programmes

• Management: – Some cases generally hostility– Other cases replaced by “going through the

motions” – Attitude on how to stall the process

Experiences - Blatant discrimination

• Blatant Discrimination– E.g. relating to Private Security Sector

• Fidelity Springbok Security Services

• South African Airways Technical – senior positions

– E.g. relating to the Mining Sector• Black Women working in the mines

• Contrast with experiences with white women

Experiences - Gender Discrimination• Direct Discrimination on the basis of Wages

– Women in male dominated professions – Far worse for black women within the designated group

of Women

• Barrier posed by Gender division of labour • Facilities available to women workers

– E.g. Child care facilities

• Farm workers– Most Seasonal Workers are women

Experiences - Indirect Discrimination• “suitably qualified” / “inherent requirements of the job” • Retention policies to favor employees that have been in

companies for long periods• Introduction of intermediary tests, use of terminology

like “transfers” to avoid recruitment• Collusion with conservative unions • “Window Dressing”

– Current trend of white COO overseeing a black CEO

– Promoted but not trained to do the job

– Promotion into a non-permanent jobs (Fig 35 p.34)

EE Processes - EE Committees

• Many instances not established• Membership of the Committees irregular• Collusion with conservative unions to frustrate the

working of the committees• Meetings called upon short notice• EE Committees do not clearly understand their

roles

EE Processes - Consultation• Divergence between management and workers on

interpretation of “consultation”• No sufficient recourse where management fails to

consult• Lack of effective action by DOL to ensure

consultation– Length of time to get response

– Procedure of submitting EE report favours employer as little employee can do to dispute contents of report when it is submitted

Analysis, Numerical Goals, EE Report• Analysis

– Many instances where no analysis has been done

– If done, undertaken by consultant

• Numerical Goals– Unions not consulted on plans envisaged

– Focus on natural attrition

• EE Report– Feeling that EE Report is a management tool which unions

have no authority to alter

– Unions not party to meetings with DOL/Management

– Difficult for unions to challenge companies operating in various provinces on information

Focus on the Public Sector - the PGWC

• Lack of Coordination

• No EE Committees in Place

• Inaccurate information submitted to DOL and Public Service Commission

• Department of Health in Province addresses EE regionally and not at the workplace level.

Income Differentials

• Apartheid Legacy• Cosatu initial proposal to close wage gap• CEE report concentrates on members at top,

middle and professional management• Union difficulties on information on wages• ECC responsibility to report on wage differentials

– Clarify time in relation to benchmarks

– Support for electronic application form proposal

EEA and the Equality Act

• Class Actions– Under Equality Act any person can bring claim

– Anomaly with EEA in terms of workplace discrimination

– Frustration by workers in terms of time/cost

– Proposal to permit in cases of EEA class action

• Awareness campaign to distinguish redresses under the Equality Act and EEA (proposal given by COSATU to DOJ and SAHRC

EEA & Skills Development Act (SDA)

• Is meant to support EEA

• Need for operational link between the two– Relationship to employment equity plans– Problems of separation of the two committees

i.e. EEC and skills committees

Broad Bases Black Economic Empowerment

• Skewed towards corporate interest instead of workers (need for redistribution)

• BBBEE however highlights shortcomings of EEA– Absence of targets and timeframes– Lack of clear guidelines to distinguish between

different categories within the designated group

Monitoring and Compliance

• EEA uses carrot rather than stick approach• Role of Courts• Lack of compliance

– Less reports received– Less progress in implementation

• Weakness of the existing two pronged enforcement process – Labour Inspectors compliance orders– DG Review

Conclusion

• Progress – very slow for 9 years• Understanding - Low among workers • Prevalence of unfair discrimination• EE Processes not being clearly implemented • DOL needs to develop clear strategies

– Link skills and EE– Effective monitoring and compliance mechanisms– Conduct analysis of implementation

• General – need for minimal targets

Summary of Recommendations

• Improving Understanding– Awareness programmes with enforcement possibilities

– DOL target management, employees TOTs,

– Link EE to business objectives to draw incentives

• Discrimination– Transparent recruitment strategies

– Guidelines “inherent requirements of the job”

– Guideliness to distinguish specific groups within the designated groups

– DOL should monitor tokenism

Summary of Recommendations

– Incentives to companies versus name & shame– Need for DOL, DOJ and SAPS to increase

enforcement in relation to vulnerable groups like farmworkers

– Integration with SDA, Equality Act etc– Examine existing of compliance orders