Inflation Monitor | May 2022
The consumer price index accelerated to 6.5% in May 2022, from 5.9% in April.
The consumer price index accelerated to 6.5% in May 2022, from 5.9% in April.
In November, workers at Israeli-owned dairy company, Clover, went on a prolonged strike. In this video, Cynthia Joyce, National Sector Organiser at the Food and Allied Workers Union (FAWU), notes four key lessons for worker organisations negotiating with foreign companies.
Trade unions work to protect the rights of all members, including those who identify as Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT). #PrideMonth2022
The Labour Research Service presented the first of a series of webinars on The Negotiators’ Guide to shop stewards, organisers and negotiators. View the webinar recording and resources.
Webinar presentation by Trenton Elsely, Executive Director of Labour Research Service. Get your copy.
16 examples of challenges that negotiators might encounter.
Trade Unions Going Green booklet seeks to encourage unions to initiate campaigns to address environmental issues in the workplace. The booklet will help to put unions in a position to engage in dialogue for sustainable development policies, while representing the interests and needs of workers.
Trade unions in the public sector want big changes in how the remuneration of their members is negotiated. In this video, HOSPERSA’s Chief Negotiator at the PSCBC, Suzan Ntlatleng, shares the key lessons learned during wage negotiations.
Digital technologies are reshaping the structure of the labour market and conditions of work. We can allow capital to do what it wants. Or we can start imagining a world where we set the parameters for what technology should be.
Seven steps to ensure decent work in Free Trade Agreements (FTAs).
Coming out at work can be daunting and risky for many LGBT workers. Know how to come out in a way that is right and safe for you.
An essential resource for trade union negotiators and activists.
In South Africa, the Labour Research Service supports volunteer food handlers in the National School Nutrition Programme to have their jobs made visible, recognised, valued and remunerated. Know more.
Collective negotiations can protect workers from the worst impacts of informalisation.
The Consumer Price Index remained at 5.9% in April 2022, unchanged from March.
Produced by Trade & Industrial Policy Strategies (TIPS), this edition of The Real Economy Bulletin provides trends and data for GDP growth; employment; international trade; investment; FDI projects; and insights on the impact of the Ukraine war on South Africa’s economy and how to foster inclusive use of electric vehicles.
Understanding retrenchment law is a base upon which worker leaders can build strategies for saving jobs and supporting workers when retrenchments are unavoidable.
Trade unions are not powerless when it comes to influencing the future of work and shaping the reality of work.
The National School Nutrition Programme (NSNP) aims to enhance learning capacity and access to education by providing nutritious meals to learners at schools in South Africa’s most impoverished communities.
The trade union negotiator’s checklist for dealing with inflation in wage increases.
The headline annual inflation rate increased to 5.9% in March 2022, from 5.7% in February 2022. The Consumer Price Index (CPI) increased by 1.0% month-on-month in March 2022.
The collective bargaining process comprises four main parts: preparation, negotiation, agreement and implementation. Know the steps to follow in each part of the process.
This report describes wage outcomes in 2021 found in collective agreements collected by the Labour Research Service. The report aims to inform strategy development in trade unions.
This report describes wage outcomes in 2021 found in collective agreements collected by the Labour Research Service. The report aims to inform strategy development in trade unions.
Trade unions can intervene and try to tackle problems in companies before a Section 189 notice is issued.
A framework for negotiating conditions at work, no matter where the workplace is located, no matter what the status of workers, and no matter how unorganised workers are.
From retrenchment and unfair dismissal to discrimination and a company that makes unilateral changes to the terms and conditions of employment of workers, which labour laws for which problems?
A trade union checklist if retrenchments seem unavoidable.
Annual consumer inflation held steady at 5. 7% in February 2022, unchanged from January. But food and transport prices put upward pressure on the monthly rate, with the Consumer Price Index (CPI) for the goods increasing by 0.6% between January and February.
The process of negotiations forms the central part of collective bargaining. Here are the essential steps to follow.
Diverse coalitions hold great potential to further collective bargaining in a changing workplace. Learn the strategies for building successful alliances.
Collective bargaining can promote equity in the workplace and address the entrenched misconceptions about the role of women workers. Here’s how the trade union negotiator should approach the equity bargaining process.
This wage bargaining guide is for negotiators in all kinds of bargaining environments.
There are certain key steps to take when preparing for wage bargaining. From gathering information to developing positions to take into negotiations, learn how the effective negotiator approaches wage bargaining.
The difference between recruitment and organising comes down to what a worker is likely to think about, feel and do. Learn more about the differences.
The Consumer Price Index eased to 5.7% in January of 2022, from a near five-year high of 5.9% in December. Prices slowed for transport and health but rose faster for food, housing and utilities.
The MNC Trends Report of the Labour Research Service provides information on the performance, operations and governance of 81 JSE-listed South African multinational companies. Trade unions use the information to improve their strategies for bargaining, alliance building and campaigns.
A step-by-step guide to negotiating for inclusivity and against discrimination in the trade union and the workplace.
This guide is for negotiators looking to renew their strategy and approach in the face of the ongoing reorganization of work, retrenchments and restructuring, and the increasing precariousness of being a worker.
The collective bargaining process comprises four main parts: Preparation, negotiation, agreement and implementation. Here are the steps to follow in each part of the process.
Recruitment and organising are two key processes in collective bargaining. Let’s recollect the differences between a worker that has been recruited and a worker that is organised through describing what each of these workers are thinking about, what feelings they might experience and how they might act.
Eight ideas for building solidarity in and through coalitions to further collective bargaining in your organisation.
16 common workplace challenges and the labour laws that could help you deal with the situations.
A way to think about conditions at work in relation to the collective agreement, and the benchmarks in South Africa’s labour law to help you establish a floor of minimum conditions. A must-read for worker leaders in more informal workplaces that are looking to establish minimum standards.
An in-depth guide that shows you how to build a wage, the different approaches to dealing with inflation, simple formulas for calculating percentages and money amounts, and how to communicate with workers.
Collective bargaining is an important tool for addressing structural gender inequities in the trade union and workplace. Here are the important terms to know, specific bargaining demands for gender equity and a guide to the bargaining process.
Know the words and terms to use when talking about equality, the legislation protecting workers from discrimination and how to support and protect LGBT members of the union.
Guidance on developing practical strategies for saving jobs at companies. Know how to: Identify the company in distress, decide on the most important interventions and minimise the impact of retrenchments when they are unavoidable.
An introduction to the concept of value chains and value chain mapping to connect with workers that informalisation might have hidden from view.
Trade union strategies to shape and respond to the Future of Work and automation.
The LRS Negotiator’s Guide provides strategies to inspire, organise and represent workers.
Seeking to connect and support women in precarious work to have their jobs made visible, recognised, valued and remunerated.
Voluntary food handlers are aware that they are not valued for the work they do in the National School Nutrition Programme, in schools, and in the communities that they live in.
Trade union bargaining strategies in South African multinational companies: Revenue, profit and directors’ remuneration for the construction sector.
Trade union bargaining strategies in South African multinational companies: Revenue, profit and directors’ remuneration for the technology and telecommunication sector.
Trade union bargaining strategies in South African multinational companies: Revenue, profit and directors’ remuneration for the paper and packaging sector.
Trade union bargaining strategies in South African multinational companies: Revenue, profit and directors’ remuneration for the mining sector.
Trade union bargaining strategies in South African multinational companies: Revenue, profit and directors’ remuneration for the industrial sector.
Trade union bargaining strategies in South African multinational companies: Revenue, profit and directors’ remuneration for the hospitality sector.
Trade union bargaining strategies in South African multinational companies: Revenue, profit and directors’ remuneration for the health sector.
Trade union bargaining strategies in South African multinational companies: Revenue, profit and directors’ remuneration for the food and beverage sector.
Trade union bargaining strategies in South African multinational companies: Revenue, profit and directors’ remuneration for the diversified sector.
Trade union bargaining strategies in South African multinational companies: Revenue, profit and directors’ remuneration for the construction sector.
Trade union bargaining strategies in South African multinational companies: Revenue, profit and directors’ remuneration for the banking and financial services sector.
The annual consumer price inflation was 5.9% in December 2021, compared with 5.5% in November. It’s the highest recorded annual rate since March 2017, when it increased by 6.1%. Transport prices increased by a massive 16.8%, on the back of rising petrol and diesel prices.
An effective shop steward can identify key labour laws to support the union’s bargaining and organising activities.
The Consumer Price Index increased to 5.5% in November 2021, compared with 5% in October. That’s the biggest annual increase in almost 5 years. The transport category contributed the most to the inflation in November, recording an annual increase of 15%.
It’s time to Power Up! We need to build women’s voice and leadership and strengthen women-led movements to shift power and advance the rights of all women.
Through discussing issues close to their hearts, volunteer food handlers will see and articulate the important role they have in the National School Nutrition Programme and the school community.
Despite the complexities associated with the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) and the risks for workers and communities within such large-scale trade liberalisation, trade unions lack a well-formulated policy position on the agreement. Trade Unions and Trade: A Guide to the African Continental Trade Agreement aims to assist unions in developing their policy positions and to engage with the AfCFTA processes with confidence.
The recent crime statistics released by the South African Police Service show Gender-Based Violence (GBV) is devastatingly pervasive. Lindelwe Nxumalo, Women’s Rights Programme Manager at ActionAid, offers some actions for ensuring a successful national response to GBV.
Sexual harassment in the workplace is manifesting in more subtle forms. Know more and protect your rights as a worker.
When stakeholders act collectively, it is possible to transform the norms, policies and practices that perpetuate gender-based violence in the workplace.
Trade union bargaining strategies in South African multinational companies: Revenue, profit and directors’ remuneration for the retail sector.
The Consumer Price Index came out unchanged at 5% compared to September. Food and transport costs are the biggest contributors to the rate, with the transport index increasing by 10.9% in October 2021 compared with October 2020. And the SARB has raised its main lending rate by 25 basis points to 3.75%, meaning the prime lending rate of commercial banks will increase to 7.25%.
Effective shop stewards use labour laws as a tool for organising.
The LRS Multinational Corporations (MNC) database tracks over 80 JSE-listed companies operating in 14 sectors. Find simplified financial information of the company. Monitor profit across the sector. Know how much the CEO was paid.
A guide for shop stewards on how to solve workers’ complaints and maintain strong workplace unions.
The impact of the pandemic on employment is worse than expected, says the International Labour Organisation in a new report.
Learn a step-by-step approach to successful bargaining at the company level. #goingbacktobasics
The headline inflation rose to 5% in September 2021 from 4.9% in August 2021. Food inflation is 7%, electricity 14%, and fuel almost 20%, with a large petrol price increase expected in November.
The Decent Standard of Living measure offers us a fresh way of looking at the living wage. This measure defines what makes a decent standard of living and it is made of the perceptions of our people. This measure is based on a set of 34 socially perceived necessities for a decent life. If you have these things, you have a decent standard of living.
This report is the outcome of our 2021 DSL Colloquium, which presented an updated list of Socially Perceived Necessities (SPNs). The SPNs illustrate what South Africans consider essential living conditions and/or possessions needed to live a decent life.
The term inflation means a sustained increase in the general level of prices of goods and services. The headline annual inflation rate increased to 4.9% in August 2021 from 4.6% in July 2021.
Our range of resources address the key workplace issues for young women workers and are useful for the union that wants to tap into the creativity and energy that empowered young women members can bring to the organisation.
The headline annual inflation rate declined to 4.6% in July 2021 from 4.9% in June 2021.
Our facilitation exercise will strengthen the ability of workshop participants to understand concepts and have the confidence to bargain with a gender equity lens. Get your copy.
As South Africa celebrates Women’s Month, Johan Botes of Baker McKenzie explores the findings of a new report highlighting the economic costs of sexual harassment and suggests ways in which the situation could be changed.
The headline annual inflation rate was 4.9% in June 2021, compared with 5.2% in May 2021.
Effective trade unions act at the local, sectoral and global levels. Learn the four elements to value chain mapping.
Outcome: Strengthen our understanding of social dialogue in creating gender equity.
Women feel more confident in participating in political economy discussions.
Outcome: Strengthening our understanding and confidence in bargaining with a gender equity lens.
Outcome: Reflection on our organisational policies and practices in relation to creating a gender-equitable trade union.
Outcome: Participants feel comfortable, supported and confident in participating in the workshop.
It’s proven that exercises and games activate our senses and increase creative learning of new concepts and understanding of ideas. Our collection of facilitation exercises will help trainers involved in participatory education activities for workers.
Abuses of the right to strike, the right to establish and join a trade union, the right to trade union activities and civil liberties and the right to free speech and assembly are at an eight-year high, according to the ITUC’s annual Global Rights Index.
This training manual can be used to support shop stewards in ensuring safety at the workplace during the Covid-19 pandemic and beyond.
The headline inflation rate in May 2021 accelerated to 5.2 % year on year. The prices of food, transport, public transport and administered prices continue to drive inflation. Remember that inflation statistics refer to the past twelve months, while wage increases refer to the months to come.