AGM 2010

SECRETARIAT & EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE REPORT  

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CONTENTS Message from the NBCCI Chairperson Performance report:

NBCCI Governance Operations • Dispute Resolution • Finance and Administration • Levy Collection Collective Bargaining

Human Resources

Capacity Building and Stakeholder Intervention

  

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MESSAGE FROM THE CHAIRPERSON Deputy Chairperson Mr. Alfie Ngubo, NBCCI CEO Mrs. Ingrid Dimo, honorable guests, representatives from Trade Unions and Employers Organizations, observers , sons and daughters of my beloved country, I say peace be unto you. I have been privileged to serve as a chairperson of this Bargaining Council for the past year and to fulfil its course and to further its vision and it is now my term to address the 2010 Annual General meeting of the Council. The Deputy Chairperson has already welcomed you all to this accountable meeting. The NBCCI has achieved a lot since its establishment and I salute those who were in the leadership. Some of these achievements like financial stability, dispute resolution mechanism and other procedures, including the empowerment of staff and stakeholders through our internal cadres; we salute your skills parted to us. There are still challenges out there to make sure that the future of this Council is sustainable. I wish to thank the maturity of the negotiators for the 2010/2011 Substantive and Wages Negotiations but believe we need to stick to our rules of engagement and work according to a plan and timeframes. Time is very precious and we need to work around it. We have lost two of our Staff members through resignations in this year namely P.A to the CEO, Antoinette Bezuidenhout who served this Council for a period of five (5) years and the Senior Case Administrator, Dudu Madubanya who has been with us for three (3) as she wanted to pursue her carrier as a Commissioner. We must applaud them for the work they’ve performed whilst with this Council and the leadership role they displayed. I must take this opportunity to congratulate all the members of the Executive Committee for the leadership they showed, Operations Task Team, Finance Committee and other leaders of the Employers Organizations and Trade Unions for the immeasurable support they have given to us during the period under review. I must also thank the NBCCI Staff members for the good work done and their dedication. We are very proud of you, keep up the good work and continue to support leadership of Ingrid Dimo. We are looking towards our tenth year anniversary and our Council continue to be on the map. We couldn’t have done this without the support of the CCMA, the Department of Labour and all other interested parties. Lastly, as we face the Climate Change, I hope that the working class are going to bear the brunt of the changes involved. Green jobs are at the centre of the Global debate. I hope and trust that Labour will drive the climate change.” If you look back too often, you won’t be able to see ahead.” We have the right to shape our own destiny. Lets us be

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innovative as we are dealing with a new generations which cannot be bamboozled. I thank you. BOSOLE CHIDI CHAIRPERSON

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1. NBCCI GOVERNANCE

• Council & Executive Committee The full Council structure and Executive Committee are entrusted with various decision making and strategic policy making powers in terms of the Council’s Constitution. There are four (4) full Council meetings scheduled in a year whose main responsibility is to ratify substantive agreements concluded by various sectors during the centralised bargaining process. Various sub committees are established to assist the Council and Executive Committee in carrying out their functions. These Committees consists of equal number of persons nominated by parties (Representative Registered Trade Unions and Employer Organisations) from each side. The Committee meetings are coordinated in accordance with the approved year planner or as per mutual agreement between the parties.

• Finance Committee This Committee reviews all financial statements, reports and make recommendations on financial activities to the Executive Committee. The Committee is also responsible for reviewing and providing guidance for the organization's financial matters and assures that internal controls are adhered to.

• Operations Task Team The Operations Task Team oversees compliance with operational policies and procedures. Review and make recommendations on operational aspects of business components by suggesting solutions underpinning service delivery mechanisms to the Executive Committee. The following components forms part of discussions within this committee meetings i.e. Dispute Resolution, Collective Bargaining, Variations and Exemptions, Human Resources, which include staff recruitment, remuneration and employee well being and conduct.

• Extensions Committee The Extensions Committee is responsible for the review and monitoring representativeness of the Council through membership of parties to the Industry and liaising with the Department of Labour on relevant aspects pertaining to the extension of the Council’s collective agreements, to non parties.

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• National Negotiating Committee This Committee is responsible for discussions of any issues of

national importance affecting parties to the Council. The following

issues are currently part of the Committee meeting’s agenda:

1. retirement funding

2. medical aid

3. HIV/aids

4. agency shop

5. traditional healers

6. skills development/employment equity

7. labour brokers and outsourcing

8. job creation

• Annual Financial Statements Our approved firm of independent auditors (KPMG) is responsible for assessing, reporting and providing an opinion on the Council’s financial statements which should conform to the South African statement of Generally Accepted Auditing Practices (GAAP). The audit is also conducted in accordance with International Standards.

• Reporting The Secretariat issue reports on a monthly basis in a manner that takes into account all operational and financial aspects which the Council recognises as important for effective disclosure to all stakeholders. 2. OPERATIONS Activities carried out by various departments within the Council are discussed herein under.

• Dispute Resolution • Finance and Administration • Levy Collection

Dispute Resolution

The Council dispute resolution functions are carried out in terms of section 51 read with section 127 of the Labour Relations Act, no. 66 of 1995 ( as amended). In ensuring that this activity is carried out effectively, efficiently and expeditiously the Council formally adopted the CCMA rules as its dispute resolution procedures, CCMA case

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management system and appointment of selected accredited individuals from the CCMA pool to serve as its conciliators and arbitrators. The appointment of a full time resident panellist has also contributed immensely in the improvement of the Council’s national efficiencies. All bargaining Councils are assessed based on their performance in line with the following criteria for accreditation issued by the CCMA Governing Body:

EFFICIENCY / MINIMUM REQUIREMENT

APPROVED EFFICIENCY

NOTES

Conciliations heard outside 30 days

10% Hear 10% or more of all jurisdictional referrals using the pre-conciliation process

Conciliations heard of jurisdictional cases

7% Settle 7% or more of all jurisdictional referrals using the pre-conciliation process

Conciliations heard outside 30 day period

0% Statutory requirement

Conciliations heard & closed 90% Close 90% or more of all conciliations heard (includes all 'con' type processes)

finalized jurisdictional cases 50% Finalize 50% or more of con/arb cases in a single event. Includes 'settled' and 'award rendered'

settlement rate 70% Settle 70% or more cases across all processes

Arbitrations finalized of heard cases

90% Finalize 90% or more of arbitrations heard

Late awards 0% Statutory requirement

Postponements of events 1% Allow for the maximum of 1% adjournment of all processes heard

Postponements/adjournments 5% Allow for the maximum of 5% postponement of all processes heard

Turnaround times conciliations (days)

30 days Conciliation process to take place from 'activation' to 'closed' within a maximum of 30 days

Turnaround times arbitrations (days)

60 days Arbitration process to take place from arb referral date to 'closed' within a maximum of 60 days

Dispute department activity report

The report covers activities performed by the Dispute Resolution Department for the 2009/2010 financial year which covers the period from the 1st September 2009 to 31st August 2010. During the period under review, a total of 863 disputes were referred to the Council which represents an average of 4 referrals per working day throughout the reporting year. This represents an increase of 10% over the 2008/2009 financial year, a period during which the Council recorded a total of 781 dispute referrals.

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MONTHLY TREND

The above graph depicts the fluctuating trend of the total number of dispute referrals received by the Council over the 12 months of the financial year.

REFERRALS BY SECTOR

The Petroleum sector has consistently accounted for the highest number of referrals over the period at 19%, whilst the Base Chemicals sector is the second highest at 15%. The rest of the caseload was spread amongst the remaining sectors with the Surface Coating sector accounting for the least number of referrals at 4%.

REFERRALS BY PARTY TRADE UNION

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Of the 863 referrals received, 317 were referred by trade union parties to the Council which is an increase of 35 referrals compared to the previous financial year. CEPPWAWU accounted for the highest number of referrals at 54%, GIWUSA accounted for 21% and SACWU accounted for 19%. SOLIDARITY remained consistent with the least number of referrals at 6%.

DISPUTE REFERRALS BY DISPUTANTS

The breakdown of referrals by disputants has changed, with the non unionised individuals as the most active at 50% of the total caseload. Party trade union disputes accounted for 37% of the total caseload. Non party trade union disputes against party employers’ accounts for 4% of the caseload, which reflects a 1% increase compared to previous year of reporting.

PARTY VS NON PARTY DISPUTES PER MONTH

The above graph outlines the comparison of cases for party-to-party versus non parties to Council. A total of 744 disputes were referred by parties to the Council, which represents 86% of the caseload. This is the same as compared to the previous financial year. A further 119 disputes were referred by non parties to the Council, representing 14% of the total caseload. The stability of the referrals received from this group of disputants shows that most non parties now realise that the Council only deals with party-to-party disputes.

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DISPUTE REFERRALS BY ISSUE

Unfair dismissal disputes continue to account for the largest percentage of disputes referred to the Council. These disputes account for 75% of the total caseload, which is a decrease of 1% compared to the previous financial year. Refusal to bargain and Pre-Dismissal Arbitration disputes accounted for the least percentage of the disputes which were referred o the Council with less than 1% of the total caseload.

REFERRALS BY PROVINCE

Gauteng province still remained the most active province with 52% of the total caseload. This percentage has decreased by 3% as compared to the previous financial year. The rest of the caseload was spread over the 8 provinces with Kwa-Zulu Natal and Western Cape provinces each accounting for 13% of the caseload. The least active provinces were the Northern Cape and North West provinces, each accounting for 1% of the total caseload.

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PROCESSES

During the period under review, a total of 1322 hearings were conducted which translates into an average of 5 hearings every working day. Arbitrations accounted for the majority of processes conducted, namely 49%. Con-Arb and Conciliation processes accounted for 24% and 18% respectively, whilst other processes accounted for 9% of the processes conducted. Conciliations A total of 244 conciliation hearings were conducted during this period, which represents an average of 1 conciliation hearing every working day. Con/Arbs A total of 311 con/arb processes were conducted. The principle behind this process is to attempt to expedite the dispute resolution process by having both the conciliation and arbitration taking place as a continuous process on the same day. It should be noted that although various views have been raised around the effectiveness of this process, most cases continue to be scheduled as such. Arbitrations A total of 649 arbitrations were conducted during this period. An estimate of 15% of arbitrations conducted were settled, whilst 24% of the arbitrations conducted resulted in arbitration awards being issued. The remaining 61% covers cases which were postponed or dismissed for no attendance, including non jurisdictional cases. Others remained part-heard and are still continuing.

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ARBITRATION AWARDS

Of the 154 arbitration awards rendered, 70% were in favour of the employer parties, 16% for individual parties, 13% for party trade unions and 1% for the non party trade unions. Other processes In addition to conciliations and arbitrations conducted during the financial year, a further 118 or 9% other types of processes were conducted. These refer to pre-conciliations, facilitation and jurisdictional hearings.

SETTLEMENT RATE

The Council has achieved an average settlement rate of 57% for the period under review. This represents cases settled at conciliation,

settled by parties prior to the hearing, settled at arbitration and withdrawn by parties.

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PARTY TRADE UNIONS SETTLEMENT DURING SEPT 09 – AUG 10

The above graph demonstrates that of all the cases received by the Council for the period of September 2009 to August 2010 from GIWUSA, a settlement rate of 40% was reached, while Solidarity achieved the least settlement rate i.e. 22%.

SECTORS SETTLEMENT DURING SEPT 09 - AUG 10

The above graph indicates that of all the cases received by Explosives Sector a settlement rate of 69% was achieved while Fertilizers achieved the least settlement rate i.e. 29%.

It is also clear that the Council is still lacking behind in meeting the 70% settlement rate as required by the CCMA.

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REVIEWS

The Council received a total of 40 review applications, which reflects a 22% increase from the previous financial year. A total of 13 enforcements applications (Sec 143 or Sec 142A) were received by the Council, 11 of which were certified by the CCMA and 1 was declined as the award was already 3 years old. 1 Application is still outstanding from the CCMA.

POSPTPONEMENTS

The Council received a total of 216 applications for postponement during the reporting period, which represents 22% of the cases conducted. The CCMA requires that not more than 6% of matters can be postponed. A challenge for the Council is to improve and intensify its internal mechanisms to ensure that this requirement is successfully achieved. NBCCI PANEL OF CONCILIATORS AND ARBITRATORS At the beginning of 2010 the Council offered contract renewal to 85 panellists nationally; however, only 75 panellists returned their signed contracts in acceptance of the offer. In July 2010 the Council offered to renew contracts of another group of 14 panellists whose

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accreditation was confirmed by the CCMA. At this point only 13 panellists returned their signed contracts in acceptance of the offer. The diagram below illustrates the breakdown of panellists per province.

PANELLIST PER PROVINCE – RACE

PANELLISTS PER PROVINCE - GENDER

Our current pool of Conciliators and Arbitrators comprises of 88 panellists appointed on a renewable one year contract. This principle is, however, dependent on individual panellist performance. In terms of representation with regards to the employment equity, the Council is well on its way to establishing a more representative position. The challenge is what is available in the market in terms of gender, including experience in the field. There are a limited number of women in this career field. It is also a challenge to try to strike a balance between panellists of high calibre and experience with those that are relatively inexperienced to deal with a variety of labour related issues.

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SUBSIDY CLAIMS SUBMITTED AND PAID BY CCMA This report covers the subsidy claims filed with the CCMA for the 2009/2010 financial year, and which covers the period 1st September 2009 to 31st August 2010. The Council submitted subsidy claims paid at R450.00 per settled and finalised case. To date the Council has received an amount of R147 600.00. CHALLENGES AND SUCCESSES This report also reflects on challenges faced by the Council as well as highlighting the successes achieved by the dispute department over the year under review. It has been a challenge for the department to find balance in terms of the processes and systems currently in place and to be able to link them with the objectives and goals of the Council. Postponements The increase in postponements created an inhibiting situation, because for each case postponed, another case could have been heard. The CCMA has set the requirement of not more that 6% of postponements. However with the parties complying with the Council’s a dispute resolution procedure by sending postponement agreements 7 days prior to the hearing, the Council cannot deny postponement. Objections to Con/Arb

In the period under review, of the 311 con/arbs scheduled, the Council received 180 objections from parties which translate to an objection rate of 58%. This defeats the Council’s objective of attempting to resolve disputes speedily and effectively. Reviews

The department has noted an increase in the number of review applications from parties. This increase could be viewed as though parties are giving less regard to the processes within the Bargaining Council, by seeking an alternative and preferred outcome to their individual disputes. In this instance, the department acknowledges the right for parties to exercise their rights by exhausting all available processes at their disposal. However it must be reiterated that the review process should be used for its intended purpose in terms of Sec 145 (2) of the LRA.

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Achievements

The department has recorded successes in the following areas:-

• Eliminating late submissions of Awards by our Panellists, • Processing and finalising outstanding cases, • Updating the Case Management System by closing old files, • Processing Claim forms each week to make payments

effectively and • Creating and maintaining a proper filing system for the Council.

The office of the Resident Panellist came into existence on 05 January 2009 on a fixed term contract basis. With effect from 01 January 2010 the position was converted to a full time contract with the position offered to the candidate who was serving on it on a fixed term basis. The office remains a specialized office that focused on the following as its core functions:- screening of referrals, issuing certificates in compliance with Section 135(5) of LRA, quality assurance/perusal, pre-tele-conciliation, case handling and general applications i.e. condonation, rescission, joinder, postponements etc.

The Council’s primary mandate in relation to dispute resolution is speedy resolution of cases. In its endeavour to keep to this mandate, the Council adopted the pre/telephone conciliation. It is evident though that it will take some time before the Council reaps the benefits of the process. The issuing of certificates in compliance with section 135(5) has a dual effect on the part of the Council which is both negative and positive. The positivity being that the cases are handled within the required time frame. The negativity being that it affects the 70% settlement rate as national efficiency, and has the same effect on the Resident Panellist as designated personnel for such activity, as the personnel is also required to meet the 70% settlement rate. The Council has been able to eliminate quite a number of preliminary issues through proper screening of cases. There has been few though that escaped the process and those were mainly caused by improper completion of referral forms especially in relation to unfair labour practices i.e. disguise of unfair discrimination cases as unfair labour practice disputes.

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The workshop intervention has also assisted in eliminating some of these challenges. There is hope that if proper candidates could attend such workshops, the Council will see less of these in the coming year. Finance and Administration The Finance Department provides enhancements to controls and processes currently in place with main focus on compliance issues raised by auditors’ management report. For eight (8) years running, the Council has received an unqualified audit opinion for its independent auditors. NBCCI Income & Expenditure – 1 Sept 2009 to 31 Aug 2010

The finance management system i.e. QuickBooks, is currently in use for accounting and Quick pay for payroll functions. A surplus of R 282 838 for the year was achieved, which is a reduction of R860 155.00 compared to the 2008/09 financial year. The Councils capital reserves currently amount to over R7.8 million. The Council’s financial position remains stable and healthy. Full details of the Council’s financial performance for 2009/10 are contained in the audited financial statements for the year ended 31 August 2010.

Levy collection The levy collection function is carried out satisfactorily. One of our participating companies failed to comply with its financial obligation to the Council, the problem had since been resolved through the intervention of the Council lawyers and the outstanding levies were paid in full. The Council intends intensifying its compliance mechanisms to ensure full co-operation by all parties.

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A recommendation has been made to increase the current membership levies by 4.5% which can be translated as - from R11.00 to R11.50 inside the bargaining unit and R5.50 to R5.75 outside the bargaining unit, with effect from 1st January 2011.

3. COLLECTIVE AGREEMENTS 2010 collective bargaining process was once more a success ending with all 5 sectors concluding their agreements, despite challenges. The Councils’ representation certificate issued by the Registrar of Labour Relations – Department of Labour in August 2009 expired in June 2010. Discussion on the extension of the Council’s substantive agreements to non-parties in the Chemical Industry is still underway.

4. CAPACITY BUILDING AND STAKEHOLDER INTERVENTION

2009/10 like any other financial year has been both challenging and fulfilling at the same time. One of the achievements for this financial year was the successful handling of the stakeholder workshop. The process was canvassed since May 2009 and eventually took place on 05 and 06 August 2010. Based on the attendance and information gathered from the questionnaire that was circulated at the end of the workshop, the Council is looking forward to about two similar workshops to be conducted during 2011.

5. HUMAN RESOURCES NBCCI ORGANOGRAM

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STAFF DEMOGRAPHICS Designation Gender Race Disables Total

General Secretary

F -: 1

A -:1 0 1

Head of Departments

F -: 2 W -:1 C -:1

0 2

Resident Panellist

F -: 1 B -:1 0 1

Administration F -: 5 M -:2

A -: 7 0 7

The current staff complement comprise of eleven (11) fulltime

employees.

Temporary staff members are used whenever a need arises. The above table summarises the NBCCI’s progress in terms of equity representation and employment equity goals. It should be noted that these inequalities will progressively be addressed to be in compliance with the employment equity requirements. Two (2) resignations were experienced by the Council in the reporting period. The Secretariat would like to thank all members for the support. An appreciation is also extended to each and every member of staff, various Committees, Task Teams, and Negotiating Teams and Panel members their continued contribution and for the hard work displayed in the year of reporting.

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CONTACT INFORMATION

National Office: National Bargaining Council for the Chemical Industry 5 Hollard Street, Corner Sauer & Marshall Streets 3rd floor Chamber of Mines Bldg Marshalltown 2017 P O Box 61418 Marshalltown 2107 Main Tel: 011-833-0922 Fax: 011-833-0921/ 011-838-5565 Generic Email: nbcci@nbcci.org.za Web address: www.nbcci.org.za Engage the NBCCI via: complaints@nbcci.org.za compliments@nbcci.org.za All correspondence to be addressed to: The General Secretary – Ms. S I Dimo

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Panellist Cases Settlem

ent Rate Panellist

Cases Settlement Rate

Panellist

Cases Settlement Rate

Panellist

Cases Settlement Rate

1. Mohale Lebea

1 100%

2. Nosindwa Vuyani C

4 100%

3. Ravuku Meshack

1 100%

4. Charles Karen

8 79%

 

5. Van Aarde Marthinus

2 50%

6. Dorasamy Ananthan

26 48%

7. Mbuli Malusi

12 46%

8. Rani Colin

5 42%

9.Charoux Louise

8

33% 10.Niemand Robert

7

33%

11.Ntimbana Thomas

19

32%

12. Masipa Mokgere

23

31%

13. Smith Vicky

15

29% 14. Goldman Bella

10

28%

15. Johnston Loraine

16

28% 16.Lekgwathi Elias

28

28% 17.Loyson Madelein

36 28%

18. Maseko Nkosinathi

24 27%

19. Smith Charine

23 27%

20. Khoza Geraldine

10 25%

21. Stone Pat

4

25% 22. Naidoo Moksha

27

24% 23. Wadee Ahmed

12

24%

24.Dadabhai Sharmain

33

22% 25.Manzana Daizy

24 22%

26.Mphaphuli Joseph

24 20%

27.Mulligan Kevin

17 20%

28.Maharaj Ravitha

19 18%

29.Pienaar Jacques

25

18% 30.Raffee Mohammed

22

18% 31.Kganyago Francis

5

17%

32.Lucwaba Nomalungel

23

17%

33.Mpai Elias 9

17% 34.Nagdee Yusuf

4 17%

35.Hofmeyr Ann

21 15%

36.Ntsoane Simon

44 15%

37.Cachalia Ahmed

13

13% 38.Scott Kevin

15

13%

39.Williams – De Beer L

12

13% 40.Cillier Lance

24

12% 41.Lynch Desmond

33 12%

42.Moletsane Russell

13 12%

43.Sekhabisa Joseph

49 12%

44.Matshaka Lungile

13 10%

45.Makhubela Simon

29 9%

46.McEwan Gail

15 9%

47.Mbhele Nomusa

25 8%

48.Bracks Ronnie

27 7%

49.Ndab a Humphrey

10 7%

50.Raffee Nasima

41 6%

51.Sesani NP

22 6%

52.Singh Ashmini

17 4%

53.Sheen Grant 32

2% 54. Zwane Alpha

40 1%

55.Khoza Sibongile

4 0%

56. Koorts Martin

2 0%

57.Kriel Abie 10

0% 58. Mare Anthony

5 0%

59.Mathebula Johnny

3 0%

60.Matsepe Harold

2 0%

61.Moe Ally 1

0% 62.Moodley Fiona

6 0%

63.Mooi Faizel

18 0%

64.Mthembu Jerome

4 0%

65.Nyathela Irene

5 0%

66.Olivier Retief

9 0%

67.Osman Shiraz

3 0%

68.Rantho Simon

6 0%

69.Reynolds Alta

11 0%

70.Smith Margaret

18 0%

71.Stapelberg Wynand

20 0%

72.Van Zyl Phillip

3 0%

No Cases scheduled for period under review

  No Cases scheduled for period under review

  No Cases scheduled for period under review

  No Cases scheduled for period under review

73.Dickens Cindy

- 74. Gruss Jonathan

-

75.Hanekom Peter

-

76. Hempe Ngolo S

-

77.Kayster Kelvin

- 78.Mafoyane Sefako

-

79. Maseko Joseph

- 80. Mbileni Chris

- 81.McGregor Robin

-

82.Mtutuzeli Nqeleni

-

83.Ngcobo Augbrey

-

84.Charlton Rex

-

85.Robertson John

-

86.Siele Nina

-

87.Sikwane Lerato

-

88.Walele Zarina

-

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