CCMA braces for major case backlog in 2021 due to R100 million austerity cut
|Published
TRADE unions have lambasted the government for its austerity measures which have led to a R100 million budget cut in 2021 for the Commission for Conciliation Mediation and Arbitration (CCMA) that has had to temporarily suspend the services of scores of part-time commissioners who form the backbone of its services.. Picture: Oupa Mokoena/ African News Agency (ANA)
Durban – TRADE unions have lambasted the government for its austerity measures which have led to a R100 million budget cut in 2021 for the Commission for Conciliation Mediation and Arbitration (CCMA) that has had to temporarily suspend the services of scores of part-time commissioners who form the backbone of its services.
Unions have described the government’s decision to cut the budget by R600m over three years as placing the CCMA in a “crisis” that will impact retrenched workers and lead to a backlog of cases throughout 2021.
It is estimated that part-time commissioners who comprise 60% of commissioners are responsible for about 80% of the case load.
Cosatu spokesperson Sizwe Pamla said the union would raise the issue with National Economic Development and Labour Council (Nedlac) as workers were already “on the offensive” due to lockdown retrenchments.
"This is causing a mess. We are going to have all these workers looking to the CCMA to intervene on their behalf to get justice. It is not acceptable because it makes all the labour laws redundant if you are going to reduce and weaken institutions.
“This is what we predicted, that the austerity cuts are going to weaken public institutions. Even the Hawks are feeling the pinch,” Pamla said.
UASA spokesperson Stan Mazhindu said the CCMA was “in crisis” as the cut had left the CCMA with “too few hands to properly assist workers”.
“The cut was unexpected and not in line with the increased demand for its services. The budget cut will impact heavily on the country’s workers who suffered job losses due to the Covid-19 lockdown regulations, and who in cases of unfair dismissal or other labour-related problems will now have to deal with a CCMA that is not functioning to full capacity,” Mazhindu said.
“Apart from the budget cut, the CCMA has to make do with a diminished staff component due to Covid-19, which means more turnaround time per case.”
He said the union had attended a virtual discussion with stakeholders last week during which CCMA director Cameron Morajane highlighted the changes at the CCMA. He said this included that the use of part-time commissioners between December 2020 to March 2021 had been summarily stopped due to budget constraints.
“The commission will switch to digital platforms where possible. Between March and November this year, 110 employees were tested positive for Covid-19 which resulted in the closure of CCMA offices on 27 occasions,” he said.
He said the CCMA had indicated it would hold telephonic conciliations between parties to disputes.
DA MP and spokesperson on Labour and Employment Michael Bagraim said the CCMA’s 200 to 300 part-time commissioners performed 80% of the work and essentially should be viewed as staff as many had worked for the office for as long as 25 years. He said backlogs would exist until the end of next year.
“These are senior people, most of them lawyers, but they are dedicated to the civil service and to labour peace to ensure the Labour Relations Act was not only in the statue book but translated into action. They don’t have private practices, they are dedicated to the Department of Labour. It is very sad because these commissioners are starving,” Bagraim said.
“The CCMA is one of the premier dispute resolution bodies in the world and now they are literally destroying it,” he said.
The Department of Labour and Employment did not respond to a request for comment at the time of publication.
The Mercury