Reprieve on Labour Bill 2006

THE tabling of draft legislation on a controversial new Labour Bill, which has far-reaching economic implications, has been postponed to next year.

It was initially among legislation hastily introduced last Tuesday for tabling and discussion in the National Assembly before November 30, when the House is scheduled to go into recess. At the end of last week, the Speaker of the National Assembly, Theo-Ben Gurirab, back-pedalled and announced that only two new bills would be tabled in the House this week.They are the Additional Appropriation Bill and the Election Act Amendment Bill.The Labour Bill and a bill on vocational training will now be tabled next year.Fears have been rife since September, when a preliminary version of the legislation, Labour Bill 2006, was circulated to key stakeholders, that there was undue haste to get the Bill onto the statute books.It is Government’s latest attempt to formulate effective labour legislation in the wake of the ill-fated Labour Act of 2004 – of which, to date, only a few sections have been implemented – and the Labour Act of 1992.While the 2006 Bill attempts to address deficiencies in the Labour Act 2004, both employers’ organisations and trade unions were unhappy about the limited time that would have been available to scrutinise the legislation and submit proposals.Immediate concerns have centred on technical and drafting errors, and a lack of discussion on key provisions.Criticisms include: * the potential undermining of the collective bargaining relationship between trade unions and employers, * employers not being allowed to be represented by lawyers or senior managers during arbitration sessions, and * the potential impact on the economy and achieving the goals set out in Vision 2030.The 2004 Bill included leave of 24 consecutive working days plus five days’ compassionate leave – according to a study by the Namibian Economic Policy Research Unit (Nepru), the additional leave days would lower the Gross Domestic Product by two per per cent and cost employers N$308 million.The Labour Bill 2006 provides for a basic four weeks paid leave a year.The introduction of the three bills at such a late stage had already raised hackles on opposition benches.This was because Speaker Gurirab had announced last month that, in terms of parliamentary rules, no new bills could be tabled after November 1 unless the Speaker considered the matter urgent, also in accordance with parliamentary rules.Last Tuesday, the Speaker told the House that three ministers had indicated they wanted to introduce a new bill each: the additional budget, the labour bill and one on vocational training.Gurirab requested Members to consider the three bills as “urgent”.This irritated opposition parties and DTA chairman Johan de Waal requested that the matter be discussed in the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Rules and Orders on Wednesday morning.With only nine sitting days left, it would be impossible to do justice to all three new bills, especially the new Labour Bill, De Waal said.When approached for comment on Thursday, De Waal said the outcome of the meeting was confidential, but that the Speaker would make an announcement accordingly.Gurirab told the House only a few moments before the end of Thursday’s session that just two bills would be introduced this week – one to amend the existing Election Act and the additional budget.”The Labour Bill and the bill from the Ministry of Education on vocational training will only be introduced in 2007,” the Speaker said.The additional budget would only come to N$190 million, the public broadcaster NBC reported this past weekend.At the end of last week, the Speaker of the National Assembly, Theo-Ben Gurirab, back-pedalled and announced that only two new bills would be tabled in the House this week.They are the Additional Appropriation Bill and the Election Act Amendment Bill.The Labour Bill and a bill on vocational training will now be tabled next year.Fears have been rife since September, when a preliminary version of the legislation, Labour Bill 2006, was circulated to key stakeholders, that there was undue haste to get the Bill onto the statute books. It is Government’s latest attempt to formulate effective labour legislation in the wake of the ill-fated Labour Act of 2004 – of which, to date, only a few sections have been implemented – and the Labour Act of 1992.While the 2006 Bill attempts to address deficiencies in the Labour Act 2004, both employers’ organisations and trade unions were unhappy about the limited time that would have been available to scrutinise the legislation and submit proposals.Immediate concerns have centred on technical and drafting errors, and a lack of discussion on key provisions.Criticisms include: * the potential undermining of the collective bargaining relationship between trade unions and employers, * employers not being allowed to be represented by lawyers or senior managers during arbitration sessions, and * the potential impact on the economy and achieving the goals set out in Vision 2030.The 2004 Bill included leave of 24 consecutive working days plus five days’ compassionate leave – according to a study by the Namibian Economic Policy Research Unit (Nepru), the additional leave days would lower the Gross Domestic Product by two per per cent and cost employers N$308 million.The Labour Bill 2006 provides for a basic four weeks paid leave a year.The introduction of the three bills at such a late stage had already raised hackles on opposition benches.This was because Speaker Gurirab had announced last month that, in terms of parliamentary rules, no new bills could be tabled after November 1 unless the Speaker considered the matter urgent, also in accordance with parliamentary rules.Last Tuesday, the Speaker told the House that three ministers had indicated they wanted to introduce a new bill each: the additional budget, the labour bill and one on vocational training.Gurirab requested Members to consider the three bills as “urgent”.This irritated opposition parties and DTA chairman Johan de Waal requested that the matter be discussed in the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Rules and Orders on Wednesday morning.With only nine sitting days left, it would be impossible to do justice to all three new bills, especially the new Labour Bill, De Waal said.When approached for comment on Thursday, De Waal said the outcome of the meeting was confidential, but that the Speaker would make an announcement accordingly.Gurirab told the House only a few moments before the end of Thursday’s session that just two bills would be introduced this week – one to amend the existing Election Act and the additional budget.”The Labour Bill and the bill from the Ministry of Education on vocational training will only be introduced in 2007,” the Speaker said.The additional budget would only come to N$190 million, the public broadcaster NBC reported this past weekend.