Industrial Relations in South Africa¶
Sonia Bendix (1989). Industrial Relations in South Africa. Juta & Co, Ltd (Cape Town, Wetton, Johannesburg).
| Type | book |
| Scope | Economics and economic history of apartheid |
| Method | synthesis review |
| Period studied | 1880–1988 |
| Regions | South Africa |
| Themes | unions strikes, labour markets wages, politics ideology elections, business and state, inequality poverty unemployment, education human capital, resistance social movements, demography urbanisation, comparative theory |
| Citation key | bendix1989 |
Argument¶
A practical textbook for students and practitioners. Part one sets out general industrial relations theory: pluralist frames of reference, collective bargaining, workers' participation, and national systems compared (US, UK, West Germany, Yugoslavia). Part two applies this to South Africa: the history of unions and the Wiehahn reforms, the two-tier bargaining system (industrial councils and plant-level recognition), the Industrial Court and Unfair Labour Practice jurisdiction, strike statistics, and the labour market. It treats apartheid as a political settlement that gave workers unequal bargaining power and politicised industrial relations. It argues that post-1979 reform has created a fairly even-handed legal framework and that the system is maturing, though still under strain from the socio-political situation. By its own account it is 'not intended as an academic treatise'.
Evidence and method¶
Statutes (Labour Relations Act and the 1988 amendments, Basic Conditions of Employment Act, Wage Act and others); Department of Manpower and National Manpower Commission reports (strike, unemployment and vacancy tables); Survey of Race Relations; secondary industrial relations literature (Salamon, Dunlop, Kochan, Brassey, Griffiths & Jones); SALDRU union membership lists; newspaper extracts; model agreements and procedures in annexures. No archives or interviews.
Place in the debates¶
- Pluralist vs unitary vs radical (Marxist) frames in industrial relations (see Black trade unions: growth, wage effects, Wiehahn and strategy). Adopts the pluralist perspective explicitly, while acknowledging the radical critique that pluralism gives workers no real power.
- Centralised (industrial council) vs plant-level bargaining in South Africa (see Black trade unions: growth, wage effects, Wiehahn and strategy). Presents both as complementary, sets out the advantages and disadvantages of each, and expects a drift towards centralised bargaining combined with plant-level participation.
- Whether the Industrial Court and Unfair Labour Practice jurisdiction favour employees (see Black trade unions: growth, wage effects, Wiehahn and strategy). Argues the legislation is even-handed, and that employers have under-used it and mistakenly brand the Court employee-biased.
- Causes of the black–white wage gap (skills/productivity vs discrimination) (see Racial wage gaps, wage convergence and wage determination). Cites Swart's finding that differentials reflect skill and productivity, but argues these in turn derive from unequal educational and labour opportunity and from a political wage policy.
- Employee share-ownership and participation schemes as a response to 'racial capitalism' (see Black trade unions: growth, wage effects, Wiehahn and strategy). Sceptical: these are likely to be seen as co-option and to fail without rights and control at the workplace.
Findings¶
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Apartheid policy shaped labour relations by producing unequal bargaining power and divided, politicised unions. (p. 25)
In South Africa the policy of 'apartheid', with its concomitants such as influx control, has greatly influenced labour relations in this country. It has led to unequal bargaining power, the immobility of labour
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South African wage policy was driven by political ends, going back to the Civilized Labour Policy. (p. 442)
The discrepancy can be traced to the 'Civilized Labour Policy' which was intended to protect the 'Poor Whites' from competition by black workers.
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Skilled/unskilled wage differentials in 1982 far exceeded Western norms. (p. 442)
in 1982 a differential of 1:6 still existed between unskilled and skilled wages, in contrast to the average differential of l:2 or L :3 in most Western countries
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Black real wages rose in the 1970s while white real wages stagnated. (p. 442)
Blacks, during the years 1970 to 1979, received a wage increase in real terms of 5,6 per cent, while the real wage of white workers showed no increase at all.
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Unemployment is mainly structural, and runs alongside skilled shortages. (p. 430)
This unemployment is mainly of a structural nature, but it has b.een compounded by cyclical unemployment, occasioned by the dragging economic recesslon.
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Strike frequency, man-days lost and duration rose sharply in the 1980s, driven by black unions and, from 1984, mining. (p. 511)
1 148 strikes occurred during 1987, compared to 101 in 1979,342 in 1981, 469 in 1984 and 793 in 1986.
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The Industrial Court and Unfair Labour Practice concept (1979) opened a new route for settling disputes and extended state involvement. (p. 474)
The concept of an Unfair Labour Practice, the establishment of the Industrial Court and the extension of the Status Quo provision, are indicative of greater interference by the State in the labour relationship.
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Before 1979 black workers were excluded from the official machinery because of how 'employee' was defined. (p. 474)
all black (African) employees, who were excluded by the definition of employee, were not entitled to use the official dispute-settlement machinery.
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Influx control provided cheap labour and discouraged skills building. (p. 441)
Because it provided cheap labour to employers, many did not attach importance to the necessity of building up an effective, experienced labour corps.
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Employers' resistance to wage-setting by industrial councils was linked to the drive for small business and free-market policy. (p. 451)
The Government's point of view is that the establishment of minimum wage rates by industrial councils hampers the operation of the free market principle and prevents small business from operating effectively.
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The industrial colour bar kept most Blacks unskilled and left a lasting skills legacy. (p. 432)
The Industrial Colour Bar, operative until 1979, and still operating in indirect ways, effectively relegated the majority of Blacks to the category of unskilled worker
Evidence ledger¶
Sources used¶
| Source | Kind | Period | How used |
|---|---|---|---|
| Department of Manpower, Report of the Director-General, 1987 | official statistical series | 1987 | Supplies the official manpower policy statement and registered unemployment figures (Table 6) used to describe the labour market. |
| Department of Manpower strike statistics (strikes and work stoppages 1972-1987, man-days lost, duration, reasons, sectors) | official statistical series | 1972-1987 | Establishes the rising incidence, duration and causes of strikes, and the sectoral shift to mining and the public service. |
| Central Statistical Services, Current Population Survey (CPS) unemployment figures | household or labour survey microdata | 1987 | Provides strict/expanded/underemployment unemployment rates, from which total unemployment of about 25 per cent is derived. |
| National Manpower Commission Annual Report 1987 and manpower survey of September 1986 | commission or official report | 1986-1987 | Used for vacancy rates by occupation (Table 9), Industrial Court caseload and the Commission's explanation of rising black registered unemployment. |
| Department of Manpower occupational structure projections 1977 and 1987 (Table 8) | official statistical series | 1977-1987 | Illustrates rising projected demand for professional, artisan and skilled categories. |
| Human Sciences Research Council projection, January 1982 | commission or official report | 1982 (projecting to ~1992) | Supports the claim of a large skills shortfall in professional, clerical and skilled categories. |
| Survey of Race Relations (SAIRR) education expenditure and pupil-teacher ratios, 1982/83 | official statistical series | 1982-1983 | Demonstrates racial inequality in per capita education spending and pupil-teacher ratios (Tables 10, 11). |
| Griffiths and Jones, South African Labour Economics (1980) | secondary literature compilation | 1967-1978 | Source of data on black education expenditure growth, 1970 education levels, job reservation and wage policy used for labour market claims. |
| Swart, study of South African manufacturing wage differentials (South African Journal of Labour Relations, 1981) | secondary literature compilation | 1970s | Used to claim black-white wage differentials are mainly due to skill and productivity differences. |
| Labour Relations Act No. 28 of 1956 as amended (1979, 1982, 1988 Amendment Act) | legislation gazette | 1956-1988 | Primary legal text analysed for bargaining, dispute-settlement, unfair labour practice and strike provisions. |
| Basic Conditions of Employment Act No. 3 of 1982; Wage Act No. 5 of 1957; Machinery and Occupational Safety Act No. 6 of 1983; Manpower Training Act No. 56 of 1981; Unemployment Insurance Act No. 30 of 1966; Workmen's Compensation Act No. 30 of 1941 | legislation gazette | 1941-1983 | Statutes summarised to describe the legislative framework of employment conditions. |
| Influx control and segregation statutes (Black Land Act 1913, Development Trust and Land Act 1936, Black (Urban Areas) Consolidation Act 1945, 1952 Pass Act, Black Labour Act 1964, Group Areas Act) | legislation gazette | 1913-1964 | Cited to trace the legal origin of influx control and restricted labour mobility. |
| Industrial Court decisions (Stag Packaging, Council of Mining Unions strike dismissal case) and Cameron on s43 jurisprudence | commission or official report | 1979-1988 | Case law used to illustrate fairness guidelines, reinstatement remedies and treatment of dismissed strikers. |
| Wiehahn Commission recommendations (Commission of Enquiry into Labour Legislation) | commission or official report | 1979 | Explains the origin of the Industrial Court and the 1979 reforms. |
| ILO instruments (Declaration of Philadelphia, Conventions 87 and 98, Recommendation 119) | international trade or finance data | 1944-1963 | Used as normative benchmarks to evaluate South African labour law and unfair dismissal rules. |
| SALDRU trade union membership tables (Annexures, as at beginning of 1987) | secondary literature compilation | 1987 | Annexure tables of union and federation membership (COSATU, NACTU, SACOL, independents). |
| Newspaper reports (The Cape Argus 1982, 1987; The Garment Worker 1972) | newspapers periodicals | 1972-1987 | Source for quotations by employers, bankers and unionists on employee share-ownership schemes and COSATU's declaration. |
| Koopman, Nasser and Nel, The Corporate Crusaders (1987) on Cashbuild | secondary literature compilation | 1982-1987 | Single company case of workers' participation (Care Groups, Venture Committees). |
| Unnamed model company documents (works council constitution, grievance and disciplinary procedures, recognition agreement, strike-handling plan, status quo forms) | company records or reports | c.1987-1988 | Annexed as practical templates for practitioners rather than as evidence for empirical claims. |
Inference¶
Quantification: Descriptive tables.
Textbook exposition combining pluralist industrial relations theory (Dunlop, Salamon, Kochan), summary of statutes and Industrial Court case law, comparison with US/UK/German/Yugoslav systems, and descriptive tables of official statistics (strikes, unemployment, education spending). Claims rest on secondary literature and official reports rather than original analysis.
Key claims¶
| Claim | Basis | Strength |
|---|---|---|
| Strike incidence rose sharply from 1979 to 1987, driven by black unions, with mining and the public sector adding to man-days lost. (p. 493) | Department of Manpower strike statistics, Table 12 and Figures 35-39, read descriptively. | Systematic data |
| South Africa's labour market combines structural unemployment of unskilled black workers with shortages of skilled and professional labour, a legacy of racial discrimination in education and the industrial colour bar. (p. 414) | Department of Manpower and CPS unemployment data, HSRC projections, Griffiths and Jones, Swart. | Partial data |
| Real wages of black workers rose 5.6 per cent over 1970-1979 while white real wages were flat, narrowing the racial wage gap. (p. 424) | Stated without table or source, apparently drawn from Griffiths and Jones. | Asserted |
| The 1979 and 1988 amendments, the Unfair Labour Practice concept and the Industrial Court moved the system from voluntarism towards greater State regulation, with Status Quo applications rising steeply. (p. 468) | Statutory text, Industrial Court caseload from the NMC 1987 report, and reasoned interpretation of legislation and Brassey. | Partial data |
| Employee share-ownership schemes are unlikely to win over black workers or the new unions because of polarisation, low wages and lack of control. (p. 373) | Quotations from employers and unionists in press reports, plus the author's reasoning. | Illustrative or anecdotal |
| Cashbuild shows that participation based on shared control, rather than financial sharing, can succeed in South Africa. (p. 375) | Single company case drawn from Koopman et al. (1987). | Illustrative or anecdotal |
| Apartheid policy, influx control and the Industrial Colour Bar shaped unequal bargaining power, immobile labour and a politicised union movement. (p. 25) | Assertion supported by statute citations and Griffiths and Jones definitions. | Asserted |
The author's caveats¶
The author states the book is not an academic treatise and omits formal footnotes, listing sources at chapter ends. She notes that unemployment statistics vary by definition, that official figures understate black unemployment, and that Industrial Court decisions are not binding precedents.
Gaps in the evidence¶
The book gives no systematic evidence on union membership or recognition agreements (it relies on SALDRU tables and anecdotes) and no case-level data on Industrial Court outcomes. Claims about the effects of the Unfair Labour Practice jurisdiction, wage convergence and participation schemes would need micro data on firm wage settlements, strike records and court judgments, much of which exists in Industrial Court reports, Department of Manpower files and later labour surveys. The historical chapters on industrialisation and the state depend on secondary works rather than archives or Hansard.
Replicability: Data poorly documented.