National minimum wage on the cards

Labour relations specialists have

warned that with a national

minimum wage on the cards the

already volatile labour market could

worsen.

According to

Ian Macun, it is

not a question of if

will it happen but

rather when will it

happen. There is no

doubt that a new

minimum wage will

be introduced in

the country. There

is definite urgency

to introduce it but

policy changes are

required and so the

timing as well as the exact amount

of what that mimimum wage will be

is still unknown.”

He said whilst business was

uncertain, a new minimum wage

was not necessarily such a bad thing.

“It all depends on how it is set

out and what the exclusions and the

exemptions are,” he said. “Of course

this will have an impact of some

sort on collective bargaining as is

done for example in the road freight

industry.”

According to Macun whilst

there has been a drop in collective

bargaining in recent

years, at least 1.1

million people in the

public sector alone

are covered for wage

negotiations – a

figure that is not

expected to drop too

much.

Another 1.4 million

people in the private

sector also bargain

collectively for wages.

“The public sector

has grown far faster than the private

sector with at least 40.6% of the

public sector now using collective

bargaining as a tool,” he said. “Also,

with no policy changes expected to

the collective bargaining processes

that are in place, we have a very

stable environment.”

INSERT & CAPTION

A new minimum wage

is not necessarily

such a bad thing.

– Ian Macun