Despite a volatile labour market, this year’s bargaining season was going to be particularly important in proving that collective bargaining was still the best way of bridging differences between business and labour, as well as for cultivating a culture of social dialogue, Department of Labour director-general Nkosinathi Nhleko said on Wednesday.

Speaking at a Commission for Conciliation, Mediation & Arbitration (CCMA) briefing and reflecting on government’s perspective regarding the trends and challenges surrounding collective bargaining in South Africa, Nhleko said South African negotiators were preparing for the 2013 collective bargaining round at a time when collective bargaining was facing various challenges.

These included innumerable legal challenges; the extension of collective agreements; and the methods used to pursue demands, specifically referring to violent action, which Nhleko said was bringing collective bargaining into disrepute.

He further stated that South Africa had, over the past two decades, achieved significant milestones in terms of labour relations and called for this progress not to be rendered null. He appealed to the CCMA to take a proactive approach in the labour market before the negotiation season starts.

“There is nothing stopping the CCMA, before negotiation season begins, to sit down with labour federations and warn them about negative trends emerging in the labour market,” he said, while warning that the country was treading a fine line following the Marikana saga with a new trend emerging of disgruntled workers losing confidence in their labour representatives and preferring to represent themselves in wage negotiations.

Nhleko lamented the prevailing weakness in leadership and management within the labour movements and organisations in South Africa.

He said the country’s high unemployment rate of 24.9% posed a dilemma for business and labour.

Meanwhile, Chamber of Mines employment relations cluster senior executive Dr Elize Strydom expected this year’s negotiations to be particularly tough, as the majority of mining industry wage agreements would expire at the end of June, with a few exceptions ending later in the year.

She indicated that the chamber was keen to pursue the central bargaining route, but that it was also exploring other alternative negotiating forums. Strydom cautioned that, before formal wage negotiations start, rules of engagement would have to be set out and respected by all parties.

“We will respect the law and there should be repercussions if there is no respect. We can no longer go on wildcat strikes on an ad hoc basis. There are laws that govern strikes and we have to follow these by the letter of the law,” she said.

Strydom pointed out that there was still “a real possibility of retrenchments”, particularly in the platinum and gold mining sectors, which have been particularly impacted on by strikes in recent months.