Boiling Point In Agricultural Labour Relations

Collective bargaining, which involves sitting around a table and coming to a mutually acceptable agreement, is a cornerstone of the democratic process. The protests that occurred recently in the Sundays River Valley were coercion, not collective bargaining. This is according to Jahni de Villiers, Agri SA’s head of labour and development.

- Jahni De Villiers

In South Africa, collective bargaining is governed by the Labour Relations Act. Labour relations in the agriculture sector were challenged recently in the form of carefully organised protests targeting citrus producers in the Sundays River Valley in the Eastern Cape. The question is: was this really labour unrest?

The last time the agriculture sector faced a similar situation was during the 2012 protests in De Doorns in the Western Cape. Thousands of farm workers demanded a wage of R150/day, which ended up being settled at R105/day. The previous wage had been R69/day. This wage hike shock led to serious job losses in the agriculture sector in the Western Cape, with farmers employing fewer seasonal workers and mechanising more farming operations.

RIGHTS OF WORKERS

Collective agreements are generally forged between employers, who may be represented by employers’ organisations, and trade unions representing workers. No employee is expected to negotiate on his or her own behalf with their significantly more powerful employer; the parties are equal and all have equal opportunities to influence each other and participate. Nonetheless, this is not always the case. In South Africa, a significant number of bargaining councils do not function properly because of poor management, shoddy legal agreements and substandard participation.

Negotiations also take place at company level, particularly where there are no bargaining councils, such as in the agriculture sector. This changes the dynamic significantly. The aim of such negotiations should be to reach a mutually acceptable agreement between the parties, minimising conflict and risk.