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ADR811S - Advanced Industrial Relations - 2nd Opp - June 2022 |
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nAm I BI A un IVE RS ITY
OF SCIEnCE Ano TECHnOLOGY
FACULTY OF COMMERCE, HUMAN SCIENCES AND EDUCATION
DEPARTMENT OF MANAGEMENT
QUALIFICATION: HONOURS BACHELOR OF HUMAN RESOURCES
MANAGEMENT
QUALIFICATION CODE:
08HBHRM
LEVEL: 8
COURSE CODE: ADR811S
COURSE NAME: ADVANCED INDUSTRIAL
RELATIONS
SESSION: MAY 2022
DURATION: 3 HOURS
PAPER: THEORY
MARKS: 100
EXAMINER($)
SECOND OPPORTUNITY EXAMINATION PAPER
Dr Andrew Jeremiah
Mr Cathbert Manyando
MODERATOR:
Dr F. Z. Msukubili
Answer ALL the questions.
Write clearly and neatly.
Number the answers clearly.
PERMISSIBLE MATERIALS
Examination paper.
Examination script.
INSTRUCTIONS
THIS EXAMINATION QUESTION PAPER CONSISTS OF 4 PAGES (Including this
front page)
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Question 1
OVAMBO MIGRANT WORKERS GENERAL STRIKE FOR RIGHTS, NAMIBIA
1971-1972
Read the case study and answer the questions that follow.
In 1971 South-West Africa (now Namibia) had been under the rule of South Africa's apa1theid
government for more than fifty years. Apartheid laws forced indigenous Namibian tribes to live in
assigned tribal areas in the northern third of the country and required passes for movement within the
country. The Ovambos were the main group of indigenous people, making up close to half the
population, and inhabited the area called Ovamboland. The South African government had imposed a
contract labor lawsystem on all indigenous people. In order to get work Ovambos and other native
Namibians were assigned contracts in minesand municipalities around the country for a year at a time.
Workers had to leave family behind to live at the workplace for that period. Employers compensated
workers by ranked classes, rather than the type of work. Laborers could not break the contract, but
employers could break it at any time.
The Ovamboland People's Congress had sought the abolition of the contract labor system since 1957.
Ovamboland People's Organization and the South-West Africa People's Organization later continued
this struggle. However, the peak of the resistancewas not brought about by any of these organizations.
The laborers themselves developed the massive campaign from a growing sense of discontentment with
the oppressive contract system.
In June 1971, the International Cou1t of Justice declared that the South African control ofNamibia
was unlawful. This drewsuppmt among indigenous people as they began protests against the South
African government within tribal lands. Laborersbegan strikes in Walvis Bay and Windhoek,
Namibia's Capital. Police arrested demonstrators in an attempt to repress theprotests.
Later that month leaders of the African Lutheran Church composed letters to the South African Prime
Minister condemning thecontract labor system and supporting the International Court's decision. The
Dutch Reformed Church was on the African Lutheran Church's side as well.
From August to December Church leaders met with the South African Prime Minister and the
Commissioner General for Northern Native Territories, Jan De Wet. Negotiations during this time
were unsuccessful. At one of these meetings De Wet even stated that the system was voluntary and
that, ifOvambos and other native Namibians were against the contract system,they would not ask
for the contracts. The truth is that there was no other way for them to earn a living.
On December IO, a newspaper announced the Ovambo workers' plan to strike in Walvis Bay four days
later. These laborers sentletters to friends and fellow workers around the country requesting a joint
general strike throughout the nation. Ovambo workers in Windhoek held a mass meeting in their
compound and decided to strike. On Dec 13, six thousand Ovambo workers stopped work and began a
boycott of food from the kitchens of their Windhoek compound. The strike halted all main functions
of the city. The government called in white students and non-Ovambo black workers to keep the city
running, but there were not enough workers to replace the strikers.
Police arrested many Walvis Bay strikers when the Ovambos began to strike there. There were rep01ts
of police beating strikers. Strike sympathizers among the police force were dismissed. The Bantu
Commissioner for South-West Africa met with workers in both Walvis Bay and Windhoek, urging
workers to return to work. The strikers told him that they would only return to work ifthe contract system
were abolished and expressed that they were no longer participating in this "voluntary" system.
Ovambos in the Klein Aub copper mine struck on Dec. 15. The next day workers at a second mine
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joined the general strike as the first Ovambos began a migration from their compound in Windhoek
back to Ovamboland to "repatriate" themselves. More Walvis Bay workers, hotel workers, and rural
farm workers brought the number of strikers to over I 0,000.
Strikers had halted work in Windhoek, Walvis Bay, and a growing number of mines, Namibia's main
source of economy. By Dec. 19, twelve thousand Ovambos were striking and many continued to
migrate back to Ovamboland.
When laborers and hospital workers struck in Grootfontein, private companies tried and failed to
negotiate with strikers. On Dec. 29, the Rosh Pinah mineworkers joined the strike, cutting off
supplies for the Iron and Steel Corporation of South Africa. This action spurred executives,
industrialists, and mine administrators to meet with the Minister of Bantu Administration. They
announced that they would begin to revise the contract labor system.
By January 3, 1972, all major mines were on strike and 13,000 strikers had repatriated themselves in
Ovamboland, while over 20,000 total Ovambos were on strike throughout the nation. The strikers
elected a representative committee, which in turn distributed leaflets of their demands to all Ovambos
and asked to negotiate with the South African government. Their main goal was to reform the contract
labor system and included specific demands for the right to choose jobs, change jobs at any time, and
to bring families to work locations. They also sought a new pass system and increased wages based on
type of work instead of on ranked classifications.
Although government officials had agreed to reform the contract labor system, demonstrations and strikes
continued. On January 12, the South African government sent more police to Namibia to prevent
uprisings. The Ovamboland government voted againstthe contract system and supported the demands
of the strikers. Neve1theless, they banned meetings of strikers in the tribal area.
On January 19, the United Nations Council for Namibia declared that the contract labor system violated
the U.N. Declaration ofHuman Rights.
After two days of government-striker negotiations in Grootfontein, Namibia, the South African
government officially abolishedthe contract labor system. The new regulations allowed laborers to
apply for jobs at labor bureaucracies in Ovamboland. Theworkers could choose their jobs and were
paid based on the type of work and individual contracts. Both laborers and employerscould end the
contract at any time. Employers had to provide free medical care. There was no provision for family
accompaniment to places of work.
Many workers felt that poor conditions were still present within this new system and so continued
to strike. Church leaders spoke out against the new system, just as they had spoken out against the
contract labor system. On January 26, the South African government sent troops to Ovamboland
to keep order. The next day there was a news blackout within the tribal area.Throughout the whole
ordeal police broke up meetings with violence, killing ten Ovambos. Two more Ovambo strikers
werekilled by fellow tribesmen that were against the strikes and the South African government
exiled 20 clergymen from Ovamboland.
On February 4, South Africa declared emergency laws that banned gatherings of more than five people
in Ovamboland.
On February 14, twelve strikers were put on trial for breaking contract and starting the general
strike. Most charges weredropped when the trial ended in June. The trial revealed many of the
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horrific conditions in the labor compounds.
Workers continued strikes until April in protest of the unchanged conditions under the new
system. During this time theSecretary-General of the UN met with Ovambo leaders to hear
their stories.
The Ovambo workers in Namibia had successfully ended the labor contract system with their general
strike. Many poor working conditions sti II remained and workers were still separated from their
families, but the strikers had greatly increased their rights. The campaign also set a base for the
underlying political goal of the strike: further independence from South Africa. This struggle would
continue until eighteen years later.
(Adapted from Global Nonviolent Action Database (https://nvdatabse.swm1house.edu)
Questions
1.1 Discuss sources of conflict specific to this case study and in general, with examples from
the case study. (10)
1.2Summarise the reasons that prompted the workers to establish the Ovambo migrant
workers, which at that represented a trade union. (10).
1.3 Assess the viability of the strategies that the migrant workers used to force the South
African government to meet their demands. (15)
1.4Assume that the Ovambo migrant workers were members of a formally registered trade
union. Put across the legal arguments they could have put forward to protect their rights
and that they belonged to a legally constituted trade union. (10)
1.5 Convince an audience of the reasons why it is a good idea to join a trade union using the
case study as a reference. (10)
1.6 Discuss the role of government in the employment relationship and comment on the South
African's government conduct in the case study in this regard. (10)
2. From the case study, there is evidence that traditional approaches to Labour Relations (the
unitarist, pluralist and conflict approaches) were utilised in managing labour relations.
Articulate of the three approaches using examples in the case study. (20)
3. Comment on ethics in general, ethics and the labour relationship, and ethics and the law as
depicted in the case study. (20)
[END OF EXAMINATION]
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