“The trade unions’ willingness to engage was
evident in the 2017 wage negotiations that
were concluded successfully, without employees
embarking on industrial action, as was the case in
2014 and 2011 when workers not only embarked
on strike action, but also in violence,” adds Mr
Trentini.
Asked to comment on the relevance of trade
unions in 2018, Mr Trentini says unions remain
relevant and have an extremely important role
to play in representing members on the shop
floor and, arguably more importantly, on engaging
organised business at industry level on strategic
and critically important topics around the
sustainability and competitiveness of the metals
and engineering industries. He says the challenge
is for the union leaders to realise that they cannot
simply resort to violence and strikes to achieve
their desired outcomes. Mr Trentini stresses that
dialogue and on-going negotiations must trump
strike action, with strike action remaining the
absolute option of last resort.
“While we’re in the new South Africa, many
workers continue to be exceptionally hard
pressed to make ends meet and gain access to
primary services such as health care, schooling,
transport, etc. Employers are also struggling
financially, and most are running their businesses
at significant sacrifices to themselves. These
challenges, therefore, call for us to jointly come
up with mechanisms to ensure that businesses
do not cease to exist, in the process leaving more
people unemployed and feeling desperate,” Mr
Trentini cautions.
The Road Ahead
Because of the diversity and size of the industry,
Mr Trentini believes that it is important for
companies to speak with one common voice
when dealing with challenges facing the industry
– and argues that the only way that can be
achieved is when employers are represented or
talk through an agency that is able to articulate
their concerns and move the industry forward.
“Yes, it is possible to have shop-floor agreements,
but that doesn’t move the industry forward, it
is a strategic imperative for companies to join
Associations they feel aligned with, participate
actively in the affairs of the Associations and
mandate the Associations to represent their
interests at SEIFSA and at Council gatherings,”
he says.
Looking ahead, Mr Trentini believes that the next
five years will see the collective bargaining model
come under enormous pressure.
“The model will continue to be questioned and
the extension of its agreements will also come
under scrutiny. If we don’t find a way to unlock
the alternative to collective bargaining, we will
be confronted with an unregulated and chaotic
industry, which is why we need to continuously
engage if we wish to hold onto the promise of
industrial relations stability and peace,” he says.
In conclusion, Mr Trentini says SEIFSA has
played a major role in not only representing its
Associations and member companies, but the
Federation has also contributed enormously
towards shaping South Africa’s industrial
relations landscape.
“We will continue to work hard to represent
our Associations and member companies,
for without Associations there is no SEIFSA
and without companies there would be no
Associations,” he concluded.
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