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Amid the immense changes in the 21st century world of work, has come with it widely held views that significant changes are occurring in employee attitudes to labour relations. Research asserts that the prevalence of individualistic human resource management strategies has initiated argument postulating that employees‟ collectivist work orientations are in decline (Deery & Walsh, 1999). / Thesis (M.A.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, 2010.

Trade unions in South Africa are a growing force. The discussion that follows and the accompanying tables describe this in some detail. Finding accurate and consistent statistics is not always easy, but everyone in industrial relations relies on good information when making decisions. This analysis attempts to provide the best available information on trade unions today. There have been considerable legislative changes in industrial relations since 1979, but the growth of unions preceded that, and, indeed, caused it. Africans were "entering" unions several years before the Wiehahn Commission reported - often by forming new ones. Since Wiehahn, and the adaptations made by existing unions, the stream has become a torrent. Most new members are African workers; but 'Coloured' and Asian and White membership has also increased significantly.Yet at least 3 out of every 4 "organizeable" workers remain to be unionised. Plainly, the South African trade union movement has only begun its greatest period of growth.

After SACCOLA's expulsion from the International Organization of Employers in 1983 the committee decided to explore areas of domestic activity consistent with its objectives of discussing employer views on labour affairs, and representing these views where agreement amongst employers existed. As the National Manpower Commission had shortly afterwards published a lengthy report dealing, inter alia, with the role of the Industrial Court and the definition of the unfair labour practice concept, SACCOLA set up a working party to see if employer consensus could be achieved on these issues. SACCOLA succeeded in agreeing a 18 page document, which was submitted to the Department of Manpower on 28 August 1984. This was subsequently acknowledged by the Director General of Manpower to have been one of the most comprehensive reactions to this report. In his reaction to the report, however, Dr Van der Merwe noted that legislative change would be greatly facilitated by labour/employer agreement, and he therefore suggested that SACCOLA should discuss its proposals with union federations.

No abstract available. / Thesis (M.A.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal (in conjunction with Albert-Ludwigs-Universität), 2005.

The Fourth National Conference of the APDUSA, held in Ezibeleni, Queenstown on 15/16 April 1995, must be marked as one of the most significant events in the history of the organisation. Taking place one year after the establishment of a new political order in South Africa, it was a pertinent time to assess its import in the face of the critical problems that still beset the nation. The achievement of the universal franchise, after long years of bitter struggle, has indeed been a signal victory for the labouring masses of South Africa. But it is a victory that has brought no improvement in the socio-economic conditions of their existence. Still suffering on the anvil of oppression and exploitation, the millions of workers and land-starved peasants are fast losing faith in the ability of the new Government of National Unity to solve their problems. The struggle for liberation has thus entered a new phase. But the oppressed are also faced with a crisis of leadership. Their organisations of struggle are in disarray, with many of those who formerly occupied leading positions, having departed to take up positions in the institutions of government. In this situation, the task of mapping out the programmatic basis of the future course of their struggle, is one of utmost importance. These are the questions that commanded the attention of the APDUSA conference. Against the background, it is fitting that the large majority of those participating in the conference were members of the new generation. Theirs was a major contribution. After a thorough assessment of the new needs of the struggle, conference resolved to redefine and sharpen the political programme of the APDUSA. In so doing, it remains governed by its commitment to the interests of the workers and the landless peasantry in both its short term and long term objectives.

In theorising globalisation, capital is represented as all-powerful and proactive in its mobility and ability to transcend national boundaries in search of new labour markets. It is this mobility of capital. which is argued to be instrumental in shaping the processes of globalisation (Ohmae: 1989, Allen: 1995: Thompson et al: 1998. Dicken: 1998). Labour in contrast is portrayed as fixed within territorial boundaries unable to shape or influence its own destiny or the processes of globalisation. These opposing discourses of capital as the prime agent of globalisaton and labour as a passive participant in the process have predominantly informed the debates about globalisation, and have remained mostly unchallenged in the literature. This dissertation interrogates claims of capital being all-powerful via its mobility and labour being 'agentless' in influencing the processes of globalisation. In order to achieve this I use the global shipping industry' as an example to explores these arguments. This is achieved by investigating the complex ways that relationships between shipping capital and seafaring labour have changed and how these changed relationships are articulated. Specifically I examine the strategies used by South African Transport and Allied Workers to service a transnational and flexible membership. My findings suggest that the 'agentless' nature of labour in shaping the processes of globalisatlon is exaggerated by proponents of the transnational neo-liberal discourse of globalisation. / Thesis (M.A.)-University of Natal, Durban, 2001.

During the early 1970's two trends emerged in the South African business environment. The first trend was that the number of diversified enterprises started increasing, and the second trend was that there was a steady increase in the activities and power of trade unions. These two trends were considered during the evaluation of prior research on the topic of segment reporting. Prior research on segment reporting focused on the usefulness of segment reporting, the problems associated with segment identification, the objections to providing segment information, and the extent to which diversified companies disclose segment information. Using the trends identified and the prior research, the research problem developed was as follows: are the segment disclosures of South African listed companies sufficient to meet the information needs of trade unions in South Africa, and if not, what additional information do trade unions require? The research problem was limited to listed companies as it was identified that trade unions may experience difficulty in obtaining information which is not available to the general public. In addressing the problem, the following three objectives were formulated: (i) to determine if trade unions use segment information, (ii) to determine what their requirements are in respect of segment information, and (iii) if trade unions do not use segment information, to determine why segment information is not used. In order to achieve these three objectives, it was necessary to conduct a survey of trade unions on their use of segment information. This survey was undertaken as a series of replicative case studies with the primary data being obtained by means of interviews. Generalisations were then made about the use that trade unions make of segment information. The main conclusions to this research were: (i) trade unions use segment information unless they are part of a national bargaining forum, (ii) trade unions consider segment information to be at least as useful as consolidated information, and (iii) trade unions use segment information primarily to form the basis for wage negotiations and to assess overall company performance. Once these conclusions had been drawn, the results were compared to results of a survey of investment analysts in South Africa, and evaluated against proposals contained in the International Exposure Draft (E51) on segment reporting. There were similarities between the segment itnformation needs of trade unions and investment analysts, although the trade unions required more information regarding employees and the remuneration of management. Trade unions also indicated that the proposals contained in the exposure draft would be acceptable, although the unions would require more employee information on a segment basis to be disclosed. Thus, the research project achieved its objectives. In addition, areas for further research within the area of segment reporting were identified. / Thesis (M.Acc.)-University of Natal, 1997.

This thesis considers the history of stevedoring work and workers in Durban between 1959 and 1990. In particular I focus on the two distinct themes of "labour management" and "technological change" in order to denlonstrate the transformations that have occurred in the port. In examining the dranlatic technological changes in the harbour I analyze the particular difficulties that the industry faced in coping with the deluands of the changes in the structure ofthe global shipping industry. In discussing the different reginles of labour adnlinistration in the harbour I show the relationships between the implementation ofApartheid and the practice of stevedoring work in Durban. Finally I show how these thenles are related in carefully considering the positions of these workers at the nloments of technological change, retrenchment and unionization. I suggest that we cannot understand these processes of change without understanding the specific kinds of control under which these workers laboured during Apartheid. / Thesis (M.A.)-University of Natal,Durban, 2002.

There is an emerging consensus amongst economic policy makers that amongst the most important development problems facing South Africa today are the extremely high unemployment levels (estimated at 40% of the formal labour force) and the need to satisfy the basic needs of South Africa's population (ie, food, shelter, clothing and footwear etc). There is also agreement that in order to achieve these twin objectives it is necessary to obtain positive and increasing economic growth rates. The question of how these high and sustainable economic growth rates can be achieved has spawned an intense debate about South Africa's future growth path. This debate about South Africa's economic future after Apartheid is based on differing evaluations of the opportunities offered by the country's current resource endowments and the constraints inhibiting growth (Moll, 1991a, 1991b; Kaplinsky, 1991; Jordan, 1991, Levy, 1991). Some writers1 have argued that a low wage, labour intensive export strategy is the only way that South Africa can rapidly create employment and meet the needs of international competition (Moll, 1991a). Moll therefore argues that increasing the demand for unskilled labour will benefit the poor most. To compete successfully internationally on the basis of low wages (as Moll suggests) is only possible by increasing relative poverty, resulting in increases in absolute poverty, it has been argued (Kaplinsky, 1992). The recent literature (Amsden, 1989; Wade, 1990) on the success of the East Asian NICs (particularly South Korea and Taiwan) strongly refutes the neo-classical view (Little, 1979; Lai, 1983) that developing countries should grow by exploiting their static Comparative Advantage (CA), that is, exploiting the availability of abundant cheap labour. These writers (Amsden, 1989; Wade, 1990) argue that developing countries can move up the value added chain - making it possible for them to pay relatively higher wages - by selective intervention in the market A recent World Bank study (Levy, 1991) analyses the potential of South Africa's manufacturing sector to move on to a dynamic labour-demanding growth path. In analysing the potential of the Garment Sector (the most labour-intensive sector), Levy (1991) argues that South Africa's international comparative advantage lies in the mid- to-upper end of the world garment industry and expanding expons from this sector will increase employment and allow "moderate increases in real wages". In this paper we develop Levy's proposition - that a labour-demanding expon strategy is possible in South Africa for the Garment subsector - for the Footwear subsector. This study will focus on the Footwear subsector for the following reasons. This is a mature industry which is well-established in South Africa. It still remains labour-intensive and well suited like the garment subsector for a labour demanding growth strategy (Levy, 1992). It has a well developed infrastructure in South Africa. However the relative performance of this sector in comparison to that of countries at similar levels of development (the NICs) has been poor (discussed below). It is striking that Footwear has been a leading export sector for the most dynamic, Developing, as well as, Southern European economies during the 1970s and 1980s (Taiwan, Korea, Brazil, Italy, Spain, Portugal, China). Two sets of questions arise from the above discussion. Firstly, like the manufacturing sector as a whole, the performance of the South Afi can Footwear subsector has been unspectacular during the 1970s and 1980s. Why has ihis been so? What is the capability of the Footwear sector to supply the domestic market and to compete internationally ie, export? What are the implications of this for industrial policy? What incentives have been supplied to support the development of this sector and how effective have they been? What incentives will be required to advance the restructuring and development of this sector? What institutions exist in support of this industry and how can these institutions be developed and extended? Secondly, as South Africa develops a more outward oriented manufacturing strategy, it will have to understand the changing nature of international markets and international competition. How have these markets changed? What is the new basis of international competitiveness? What are the implications for South Africa? The objective of this study is to attempt to answer these two sets of questions. The second set of questions will not be answered in any detail in this study, but will draw extensively on a study undertaken by the author (see Ismail, 1992). Previous attempts at developing an analyses and strategy for the industry have been inward oriented (see Van Wyk's IDC Report, 1988) and ad hoc (BTI, 1990). Whilst Sid Cohn's Strat Plan 2000 has gone furthest in developing a systemic approach to the footwear industry, his focus on subcontracting as the main (labour) cost cutting measure has only served to gloss over the underlying inefficiencies of the industry in the management of raw materials and production. We provide a brief summary and critique of these strategies below before presenting a summary of our argument.