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News & Views by Terry Bell
Browsing All posts tagged under »wages«
Minimum wage, innovation & persecution
By the time — perhaps a year down the line — that South Africa's minimum wage legislation is passed, inflation would have caused the cost of living, especially for lower paid workers, to rise substantially. In any event, the claim that the the minimum wage is R3,500 a month and will improve the lot of more than 6 million workers is an illusion.
Wages & the need for financial disclosure
May 13, 2018
It is not in the interests of either employers or employees to have profitable enterprises collapse. Which is why exemption clauses exist in cases of legislated minimum wages. But for such a system to operate honestly, requires full financial disclosure by employers.
SA govt’s public sector pay gamble
April 16, 2018
The SA government — the biggest employer in the land — has effectively reneged on its own proposals for a settlement with more than 1 million of its employees, gambling that ANC aligned unions will accept the new, austerity measures. This has caused growing anger at rank and file level and may mean the government has overplayed its hand.
A glance at SA labour’s state of flux
April 8, 2018
The South African labour movement is in a state of flux, with a largely unnoticed internecine war for members and influence going on. Three of the competing federations are on the back foot over minimum wage proposals, but there may be hope of some union unity over controversial labour law amendments that seem to entrench a system of growing inequality.
A wage to fuel the fires of discontent
October 14, 2017
The South African government intends to introduce a minimum wage of R3,500 a month in March next year. But, given the reality of the cost of living and the level of existing poverty pay, this seems likely to fuel further the fires of discontent.
Reasons behind the Canada firefighters’ strike
June 20, 2016
The sole priority for fire fighters and EMS is the preservation and safety of life and property. Profit, with its cost cutting requirements should never come into it. That, in essence, is what the recent Canadian strike was all about.
Don’t blame workers for managerial incompetence
May 26, 2015
Don’t blame workers for poor management. And feel some sympathy for any competent managers, whether in a large school, a government department, or parastatal who often have to deal with a legacy of maladministration, all too often accompanied by levels of corruption.
No worker joy in SA public sector pay deal
May 25, 2015
By comparing last week the pay and conditions of nurses and teachers to those of cabinet ministers and MPs I seem to have touched a raw nerve, especially among paramedics and fire fighters. They too have concerns — and not only about money.
Terry Bell Writes 
June 2, 2018
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