Strike Archives - Business Directory

Opportunities at MCCI

Opportunities at MCCI

The year’s municipal employee’s strikes, load shedding, and fuel costs have made it tough for business owners and managers. What has the local chamber done for its members?

It’s very difficult to keep everyone happy and provide great opportunities for the business community without the support of the larger business community. We have had a few people call out, “What are you doing for my business?” Become a member and attend our events and when the opportunity knocks, you will be ready.

It can also be very discouraging for staff when consultants who have received high-value grants or companies who are not members demand free support. What to do? If a thing is free, it has no value.

We create our own members-only opportunities. So join and you will have the chance to see and take advantage of the opportunities offered by the Chamber. Do not stand on the sidelines, be part of the solution.

We are getting our town back

The Middelburg Chamber of Commerce & Industry (MCCI) would like to thank all the parties that worked amicably together for Steve Tshwete Municipality’s (STLM) survival through the civil unrest and unlawful strikes.

It has been a trying year for the citizens of Middelburg; between the illegal strikes, load-shedding and the increase in lawlessness so staying positive was becoming very difficult. MCCI’s journey during this trying time was fascinating. First, we tried to communicate with the newly elected ANC Mayoral committee and SALGA with no results. We eventually met with the Mayoral Committee in March 2022, and after that meeting, the municipal situation deteriorated.

MCCI then met with the opposition parties of the Steve Tshwete Council, urging them to work together to benefit the town. In the meantime, our town infrastructure was damaged either through lack of maintenance or wanton, malicious damage. Seeing locked entrances when you want to keep your business sustainable is demoralising. The agreement between the citizens and municipal employees seemed to have broken down completely.

Thank you to Andre Brandmuller from Brandmullers Attorneys for being willing to brandish the big stick to try and get the municipality working. MCCI has congratulated Andre for winning the case against the STLM employees, the STLM and the Middelburg Police.

Thank you to the STLM Councillors for standing together when needed.

Thank you to the Middelburg Council of Churches, town elders and organised business that selflessly gave their time, sometimes twice weekly, to find a mediated resolution for the strike. Without the collective support of all, our town would not be recovering so fast.

Thank you to the businesses that continued to operate and looked at ways to grow their local businesses or attract investments into Middelburg.

As a solution to safeguard our town’s future, we propose the re-establishment of the Middelburg Peace Forum (the name to be finalised.) Through open and honest discussion, we can and will rebuild our town.

Comment on 14 June 2022 Municipal Strike

Comment on 14 June 2022 Municipal Strike

The lack of service delivery by Steve Tshwete Municipality is intolerable. Many of the services provided have not been adequately delivered since 25 March 2020, when the norm was to work (or not work) from home. Covid19 Lockdown has broken the municipality and created a culture of poor work performance.

The STLM leadership has given the strikers the power to ruin our town by giving in to their demands. Essential and vital services to the business community are not being provided. The current situation cannot be allowed to continue. Ignoring the complaints and demands of the businesses does not mean that the problems will miraculously disappear; no, the situation will worsen. The state of affairs creates an ideal environment for corruption and bribes. Also, why are the strikers allowed to use municipal vehicles as transport for the strike?

MCCI is asking the business community: are you satisfied? Will the problems be miraculously fixed once STLM is working again? Nowhere in business will a problem disappear if you ignore it, you have to work on the problem to solve it. Your silence means you agree with the municipalities decisions and lack of service. Significant future investments and developments are being hampered by the political gamesmanship of our STLM leadership and councillors.

Perhaps we should look at what STLM services can be outsourced to make the economy work? MCCI will ask the various political parties to meet with the Executive Committee to find a solution to make our city fully functional and attractive for investment.

We want our town back

We want our town back
It is the responsibility of every municipality to create an enabling environment for business. How many jobs and businesses will be displaced if municipal services are not accessible to the public and businesses? Is a job in the municipality more important than a job in the industrial area?

President Cyril Ramaphosa said in his SONA speech that the role of businesses is essential to the country. Still, if we cannot register the vehicles sold, several businesses are affected. If we cannot complete the sale of a house, many businesses are affected. If there is a water shortage … and the story goes on. The business community depends on our municipal services to run optimally and without prejudice and malice. The management of Steve Tshwete Municipality must act quickly and solve the problems in their various departments.

In November 2021, MCCI offered its support in mediation to find a positive outcome to the strike that did not harm the community at large. As a collective, we have a lot of experience dealing with strikes and know how best to succeed. An example of this is the recent NUMSA strike in October 2021; thousands of workers were unhappy, many companies were affected, but there was a solution in the end. We expect nothing less from our local government. If we do not find a final solution soon, the unhappy working environment will not be solved. Those that have a role to play, the politicians, the management, SALGA and CoCGTA, must end the strike immediately.

There is a worrying wave of crime directed against our businesses and business premises. Vandalism and sabotage seem acceptable behaviour; where is SAPS, where is the discipline required to stop this? What do those involved think will happen if we continue down this disastrous path?

We want our town back. We want the town that won Masekane; we want the cleanest town in Mpumalanga, the one with the lowest crime rate and steady economic growth. We want the town where we talked to each other, regardless of political affiliation, history, or other identities that seemed essential to certain people. We want our town back.

STRIKES CAN BE RENDERED UNNECESSARY

STRIKES CAN BE RENDERED UNNECESSARY
Strikes in South Africa are as ‘natural’ as warm weather, says Ivan Israelstam, Labour Law Management Consulting CEO. On the other hand, strikes have become rarer in recent years, as unions shy away from weakening the employer and the associated dismissals.

For decades we have been trapped in a fatal vicious circle. In other words, workers do not earn enough to feed their families, and they go on strike to demand a wage increase and better working conditions. If the strike lasts long enough, the company gives in and a wage increase well above what was budgeted. This reduces profits and, in rare cases, leads to financial losses. The company then compensates by making job cuts to reduce wage expenses. As a result of the job losses, the purchasing power of the public falls, and companies suffer losses. Companies then cut costs by reducing wage increases or spending on working conditions. Workers retaliate with strikes, and the vicious circle continues.

This increasingly deadly cycle is deadlier than Covid, more toxic than state capture and more devastating than power cuts. We have now been living under the new political order for 27 years, and there is no sign of anyone in positions of power making any real effort to stop the vicious cycle, the toxic industrial relations and the cancerous damage to our economy.

For their own sake and the development of the South African people, the so-called government leaders in business and the unions must take the blinkers of their eyes and stop this deadly spiral. If these so-called leaders refuse to take up their responsibilities, civil society must intervene.

The new labour-economic system must eliminate the opposing ideologies of socialism and capitalism. The doctrines of socialism that seek the nationalisation of enterprises and strangle the economy must be abandoned in favour of the unmistakably positive socialist principle of fairness for all. Similarly, the exploitative principles of capitalism must be replaced with truly inclusive free-market ideals.

This approach mixes the benefits of the free market (the ability to make money) with the benefits of socialism (i.e. fairness for all). By combining the positive aspects of socialism and capitalism, the struggle between the two ideologies is settled, and a new, everyday philosophy, shareism, emerges. Entrepreneurs and workers will no longer compete for money because they will work together to create and share it. For more debates on labour rights issues, see www.labourlawadvice.co.za.