Towards new collective bargaining, wage and social protection strategies in South Africa : learning from the Brazilian experience

The Congress of South African Trade Unions COSATU has recognised that the South African labour movement is facing a major challenge in the functioning of labour market institutions inter alia because: collective bargaining institutions are fragmented and being constantly destabilised; there is no coherent wage policy in the country, to address poverty and inequality amongst workers; or a coherent framework to link our labour market strategies and institutions to a broader economic development strategy. At the heart of this paper therefore is an attempt to analyse fundamental shortcomings in wage and income policies and their failure, as well as the failure of our voluntaristic collective bargaining institutions, to transform our apartheid labour market; and to then look at what shifts are required to meaningfully address these challenges. These shifts can only succeed, particularly in fighting the scourge of unemployment, if they are accompanied by radical restructuring of our economic policies.