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Johannesburg - Job seekers, who need the services of labour brokers, should raise their voices in defence of these brokers, urged the Free Market Foundation (FMF) in a statement issued on Monday.
Instead of destroying jobs through unwise labour legislation, the government should be exploring every possible way to increase the demand for labour, said Herman Mashaba, chairperson of the FMF.
“In order to increase the demand for labour, South Africa needs high economic growth.”
In his opinion such growth has to come from the private sector, from small and large businesses finding new markets and increasing their efficiency.
According to the FMF any form of ban on labour brokers will destroy jobs and increase the desperate situation of those who cannot find jobs.
The majority of labour broking firms are individually owned, about one-third owned by women.
“Unemployed people face great difficulties in finding jobs. Labour brokers provide a valuable service in finding employment for them,” said Mashaba.
“A part-time job through a labour broker might not be the most favoured option of a job-seeker, but it is certainly a great deal better than long-term unemployment.”
It has been estimated that about one million workers in South Africa, found work through labour brokers.
The FMF is of the opinion these jobs would be endangered by the proposal of the ANC members of the parliamentary portfolio committee on labour to change the definition of the Labour Relations Act relating to temporary employment from “six months” to “zero months”
“This would effectively end labour broking,” stated the FMF.
“The office of the ANC Chief Whip, Mathole Motshekga, issued a statement that the portfolio committee had not taken any such decision, but we do not know for sure whether they will go ahead and ban brokers,” stated the FMF.
A substantial number of workers are placed in their first jobs by labour brokers, which reveals that the brokers are an important link between job-seekers and employment, according to the FMF.
“Almost three quarters of labour broker workers’ contracts are terminated because the workers have found permanent employment,” stated the FMF.
The World Economic Forum’s Global Competitiveness Report 2013 placed South Africa 144th (last) in the category “co-operation in labour-employer relations”.
“Labour unrest is the result of a regulatory playing field that is not level and is to the detriment of all concerned, as it does not take into account economic realities, concluded the statement.
- Fin24
Instead of destroying jobs through unwise labour legislation, the government should be exploring every possible way to increase the demand for labour, said Herman Mashaba, chairperson of the FMF.
“In order to increase the demand for labour, South Africa needs high economic growth.”
In his opinion such growth has to come from the private sector, from small and large businesses finding new markets and increasing their efficiency.
According to the FMF any form of ban on labour brokers will destroy jobs and increase the desperate situation of those who cannot find jobs.
The majority of labour broking firms are individually owned, about one-third owned by women.
“Unemployed people face great difficulties in finding jobs. Labour brokers provide a valuable service in finding employment for them,” said Mashaba.
“A part-time job through a labour broker might not be the most favoured option of a job-seeker, but it is certainly a great deal better than long-term unemployment.”
It has been estimated that about one million workers in South Africa, found work through labour brokers.
The FMF is of the opinion these jobs would be endangered by the proposal of the ANC members of the parliamentary portfolio committee on labour to change the definition of the Labour Relations Act relating to temporary employment from “six months” to “zero months”
“This would effectively end labour broking,” stated the FMF.
“The office of the ANC Chief Whip, Mathole Motshekga, issued a statement that the portfolio committee had not taken any such decision, but we do not know for sure whether they will go ahead and ban brokers,” stated the FMF.
A substantial number of workers are placed in their first jobs by labour brokers, which reveals that the brokers are an important link between job-seekers and employment, according to the FMF.
“Almost three quarters of labour broker workers’ contracts are terminated because the workers have found permanent employment,” stated the FMF.
The World Economic Forum’s Global Competitiveness Report 2013 placed South Africa 144th (last) in the category “co-operation in labour-employer relations”.
“Labour unrest is the result of a regulatory playing field that is not level and is to the detriment of all concerned, as it does not take into account economic realities, concluded the statement.
- Fin24
