This article examines the rise and decline of tripartite experiments in southern Africa, focusing on South Africa, Mozambique and Namibia, where tripartism emerged as part of the broader processes of democratisation and embedding democratic institutions. Why did these experiments largely fail to achieve the gains for labour that might have been anticipated? In each case, the lack of success can be ascribed to the ecosystemic dominance of neo-liberalism, returning growth fuelled by higher commodities prices, the changing structure of elites, dominant partyism, and structural weaknesses in both organised business and the labour movement.
PurposeThe paper seeks to examine the changes and continuities in industrial relations in post‐independence Namibia. In particular, it aims to explore some of the key elements in the process through which the distribution of the costs and rewards of economic and industrial restructuring is institutionalised.Design/methodology/approachThe paper concentrates, through in‐depth interviews with key role players, on how the attempts at sustaining a durable and redistributive trade‐off between economic efficiency and social equality led to a contradictory fusion of neo‐liberal and neo‐corporatist forms of labour market regulation.FindingsThe research reveals that changes in the regulation of the labour market since independence have created opportunities for advancement and participation by groups of more skilled and organised employees, while weaker and less skilled groups have generally experienced a decline in employment conditions and the absence of collective representation. These developments reflect and reproduce patterns of racial and gender discrimination, industrial structure, trade union membership and collective bargaining across the various sectors and occupations.Practical implicationsThe paper shows that a system of low‐skill, low‐wage and low‐trust relations – with an emphasis on cost reduction and employment “flexibility” – is fast becoming embedded in industrial relations in Namibia. Given the prevailing economic policies, industrial strategies and labour market structures, Namibia's integration into the global economy will most likely involve the increasing dislocation and exclusion of vulnerable and “peripheral” workers from the formal economy.Originality/valueThe paper highlights the ways in which the transformation of industrial relations in Namibia is shaped by the legacy of apartheid‐colonialism and the pressures of globalisation. Specifically, the conjunction of increasingly deregulated product markets and increasingly regulated labour markets has driven a wedge between the pursuit of short‐term objectives and the attainment of long‐term transformational goals.
The rapid growth of the temporary employment industry in Namibia is related to changes in the relationship between restructuring in the workplace (labour demand) and shifts in the composition of the labour market (labour supply). Instead of seeking a general explanation for the use of temporary employment, a more fruitful approach is to focus attention on the reasons why certain industries are more inclined to resort to casua/isation or outsourcing. This calls for a study of the factors peculiar to a sector that encourage or facilitate the recourse to temporary employment. Given the complex distribution of temporary employment across economic sectors. however, there can be no simple or functional relationship between type of production process or market conditions and the use of agency temporaries. Despite the lack of a simple or direct correspondence between the type of firm and the use of temporary labour. case studies reveal some correlation between the nature of the production process and the type of employment 'flexibility' that is sought by employers. The latter is primarily a product of the degree of variance within a sector, especially the extent of discrepancy between labour supply and labour demand.
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