The annual wage bargaining season — erroneously labelled the “strike season” — is upon us. Workers around the country, through their unions and in bargaining councils and bilateral negotiations with employers, are determining wages and conditions for the coming year or more.
Terry Bell
Opinion | 12 June 2013
Open Data is possibly the big change waiting to happen. It is not only going to change our interaction with the world, but also define new ideas and solutions to problems for us.
Jonathan Dockney
Opinion | 5 June 2013
‘Are you a boy or a girl?’ ‘Go outside and play with other boys and throw that doll away. Who bought it?’ My father shouts at me as he finds me playing with the cheap fashion doll which I secretly brought with my lunch money after months of saving.
Luckyboy Mkhondwane
Opinion | 5 June 2013
“Confusion hath made his masterpiece.” That quote from Shakespeare’s Macbeth seems perfectly to sum up the statements, comments, reports and machinations surrounding the Cosatu executive committee meeting last week.
Terry Bell
Opinion | 5 June 2013
“Join our hands to fight the drug companies, join our hands to raise money from the private sector, join our hands in raising money from each of us who will contribute to save lives of everyone who needs to be saved.” With these words Zackie Achmat launched the Treatment Action Campaign in 1998.
Doron Isaacs
Opinion | 29 May 2013
Potentially turbulent and conflicting currents among trade union federations have been exposed following an attempt by deputy president Kgalema Motlanthe to calm troubled labour relations waters.
Terry Bell
Opinion | 29 May 2013
Policy makers hail the MyCiTi Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) as the solution to Cape Town's public transport. MyCiTi has been lauded for its service quality. But it has also been criticised for its drain on public funds, and the system is also being questioned by existing operators.
Martin Eichhorn
Opinion | 29 May 2013
In recent columns I have mentioned the frightening statistic from the International Labour Organisation (ILO) that, on a global level, more than 120 million men and women are now without work — and will probably never work again. This week, an updated figure arrived from the ILO: there are now more than 200 million people who are jobless and with little hope of their circumstances changing.
Terry Bell
Opinion | 27 May 2013
This week I finally signed up as a donor to Equal Education. I'd been meaning to do it for a long time. Small as my contribution is I'd like to urge all who can afford even R20 per month to start supporting the social movements. Here's what motivated me to finally sign that debit order form.
Jack Lewis
Opinion | 22 May 2013
The trade union movement is in a state of flux, with concepts such as centralised bargaining and the “winner takes all” approach of majority — 50 per cent plus one — unionism now being challenged. “Agency shop” agreements whereby majority unions take a slice of the subscriptions paid by members of smaller unions, let alone the much bigger question of party political alignments are also being seriously debated.
Terry Bell
Opinion | 21 May 2013
On Friday Judge Phalatsi ordered that 13-year old Lerato Radebe be immediately readmitted to her school in Welkom. Every morning since 26 February Lerato was removed from her classroom and marched to the staff-room where she was made to spend the school day sitting idly. This was done because Lerato, whose family is Rastafarian, wears dreadlocks in her hair.
Doron Isaacs
Opinion | 20 May 2013
At the best of times, grassroots democracy, without sound communications infrastructure and the distribution of accurate information, can be a messy business. Add to this, dollops of rumour, some perceptions bordering on paranoia, various interest groups promoting different agendas, a history of distrust and memories of recent bloodshed and you have Marikana and much of the platinum belt today.
Terry Bell
Opinion | 20 May 2013
South Africa devotes significant resources to youth development, with 20% of the national government's budget going towards education alone. However, a recent survey reveals that the youth are being increasingly forced to deal with a range of issues such as substance abuse, exposure to crime and violence, inequality and poverty. As a consequence, mental and behavioural issues are becoming more and more evident among learners.
Craig Oosthuizen
Opinion | 15 May 2013
That private club of super-rich men, the World Economic Forum (WEF), was back in town this week. In Cape Town to be exact, to persuade, buy up and bully politicians and opinion makers to adopt policies that many trade unionists say are based on the myth that there is no alternative to the present crisis-ridden economic system.
Terry Bell
Opinion | 15 May 2013
South Africa ruffled political feathers in April this year, after it made it unlawful for Israeli settlement products sold locally to be labelled as "made in Israel". All products made by Israeli businesses operating illegally in the settlements must now be labelled according to where they were produced in the Occupied Palestinian Territories. This is in accordance with international law and South African foreign policy.
Jonathan Dockney
Opinion | 15 May 2013
May Day last week should have been a time for reflection, not celebration; reflection about the potentially dire situation the labour movement now finds itself in. It is a situation brought about by tensions largely resulting from the ongoing global economic crisis that has impacted on every aspect of society. To help with this reflection, Business Report is this week making available copies of my book, Right to Fight, to the first five correct answers drawn from responses to the question below.
Terry Bell
Opinion | 8 May 2013