The purpose of this study is to assess the impact of the merger between the Office of the
Premier and the North West Communication Services on Labour relations with a view to
provide recommendations to the management of the Office on how to resolve grievances
and disputes arising from the merger. The study focuses on the Office of the Premier.
A qualitative research design which made use of data obtained from the Management of
the Office, Advisory Committee, NWCS staff and a union representative was used in this
study. The memoranda and other correspondence on the merger were analysed. The
population in this study was confined to the Office of the Premier.
The investigation conducted showed that the grievances/dispute lodged by the NWCS
staff arise out of the merger. The merger negotiations were conducted in an atmosphere
that was not conducive to proper negotiations, which consequently had adverse effects on
labour relations.
Employees who were absorbed from the NWCS into the Office of Premier had their
benefits discontinued. This gave rise to litany of grievances/disputes wherein the
grievants accuse the Management of the Office with unilateral change of terms of
conditions of employment.
There is a need to re-negotiate the terms and conditions of employment of the employees
affected by the merger to ensure a smooth completion of this process. The amended
Labour Relations Act, Section 197, on transfer of a business as a going concern allows
parties to the negotiation to enter into an agreement regarding new terms and conditions
of employment. It is an option that the office is advised to pursue to bring the merger
process to finality . / M.Admin. (IRL) North-West University, Mafikeng Campus, 2005
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:netd.ac.za/oai:union.ndltd.org:nwu/oai:dspace.nwu.ac.za:10394/11219 |
| Date | January 2005 |
| Creators | Tselangoe, Mmuso Israel |
| Source Sets | South African National ETD Portal |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis |
Page generated in 0.0024 seconds