MIGRATORY LABOUR...
One-Sided Contracts
P E R H A P S the most important factor is that the African is not furnished with a copy of h i s contract. From an interjection i n the House of Assembly on February 25 it would appear that Dr. Koornhof is firmly convinced that he does have a copy, but our experience over the years is entirely to the contrary. Exactly one of the many hundreds of contract workers, who have visited this office, has had a copy of a contract in his posession. They have seldom even seen a copy since attesting to it when they were recruited for the j o b .
Many of the difficulties against which the employee comes up would be far more easily ironed out, were he able to produce docu- mentary proof of the terms of his employment.
Inevitably difficulties arise over such vital matters as wages, overtime, conditions of work, quarters and rations.
T H E MIGRANT labour system puts particu- larly severe restrictions on men who have ac- quired some skill or an advanced degree of education.
In Johannesburg few such men are admitted to work on contract because the Labour de-
partment maintains that skilled jobs can be filled from the pool of workseekers who have permanent residential rights to remain in the area. Applications from employers for skilled
workers are often refused.
In many cases a whole family has been in- volved in working and scraping in order to pay for one son to matriculate and acquire some skill which will enable him to earn more and in time to help with the support of h i s parents in their old age and to educate his own children at least as far as he has gone, and hopefully, much further.
There are so many tragedies when the prom- ising son qualifies and then tries to find work.
In many cases it is not possible for us to hear the other side of the story from the em- ployer, and even when we manage to d o so,
it nearly always boils down to the White or Coloured foreman's word against the African's, as to what has happened.
It is never possible to get from impartial ob- servers the history of events which causes the African to call at our office for advice. T h e temporary nature of the j o b , never more than a year's contract, and the low level of wages means that they are not covered by unemploy- ment insurance, should their contract be ter- minated before it expires.
Any sickness during the year means loss of wages and, very often, injury on the j o b , may not be duly compensated for lack of an effi- cient follow-up.
Athlone Advice Office.
If the pass laws require him to register as a workseeker in a homeland area or a rural district he will find it very difficult to find work which will utilise his skills and recom- pense him for the years of struggle.
If no skilled jobs are being offered by the recruiting agents or the labour bureau he will hope to find something in his homeland, but wages in the homelands are very depressed and employment opportunities are few and far be- tween. He is then forced to accept a contract as a labourer at labourer's pay. T h e low wage he will earn is not the only factor. There ean be no job satisfaction for a man who has worked hard to become skilled if he is unable to use his skills at work.
He may find himself with an employer who sees his worth and uses him in a capacity which does offer both satisfaction and a reasonable wage but at the end of the year when his contract expires he must be dis- charged and return to bis h o m e area to wait
Destructive of Ambition
The Black Sash, August, 197B 16 Die Swart Serp, Augustus, 197t
for a new application or the call-in card sys- tem to operate. Under these circumstances there
is little opportunity for advancement, nor for the acquisition of further skills.
All this applies to professionally qualified black people too and one wonders what will happen to all the graduates of the homeland universities in the future. Will the homeland governments he able to absorb them into the government service and if so will the salary offered be adequate?
I T IS terribly important to an African man or woman that his employer knows the pass laws and complies with them by registering employees.
Sometimes registration is refused because the employee is not permitted to work in the area but, in many cases, no effort has ever been made by a person's employer to register him at a time when it would have been rela- tively simple. In some cases the African con- cerned has repeatedly asked an employer to obtain registration only to be told, " I ' m too busy" or "Maybe later".
However, worse than this omission, are those troubles caused by deliberate actions on
the part of the employer. Over and over again we are told that an employer has threatened to "spoil ray book", or that an employer re-
fuses to allow someone to leave a j o b , knowing that if the " F " card is not sent in registration in new employment will be refused.
Then there are those employers who refuse t o give someone a letter certifying previous
employment because it was not registered. T h e employer fears that he may be fined for past actions but to the employee this letter may he the essential document needed to prevent h i m or her being sent to a homeland, losing all security for the future.
Worse again are those employers who use the pass laws in order to exploit a worker.
If a man is working in a job in which be was registered before the 1968 labour regulations came into force, he may hope to qualify in terms of Section 1 0 ( l ) ( b ) of the Act after
10 years1 continuous employment with one em- ployer.
There can be very little opportunity for pro- fessional people to set up in private practice
in the homelands because it will be a long time before the public there can pay private con-
sultants.
If tiie big eities are closed to them by influx control regulations and the big opportunities
closed to them by j o b reservation in spite of South Africa's need for skilled people in in-
dustry and commerce the result can only be increasing frustration and bitterness.
T h i s qualification will give him the right to regard himself as a permanent resident of the town where he works.
If he is married to a woman who is lawfully in the area he will he allowed to apply for a house in which to rear his family in relative security.
If he leaves the employer before the ten years are up in order to earn more money or better his working conditions or his oppor- tunities, he will be endorsed out and forced to work on yearly contracts for the rest of his life, with no hope of stability in the future.
Men in this position have no bargaining power at all, and some employers take advan- tage of this situation.
T h e whole structure of pass laws and influx control makes it impossible for normal econ-
omic factors to regulate employer-worker re- lationships. T h e law deprives African employ- ees of their human rights and demands much
of them.
Justice demands much of employers who have to operate in such a system. I t is unjust to pay an African less than his job is worth because he cannot hand in his notice for various reasons; or to pay him less to do a j o b normally reserved for W h i t e s ; or to use the law to force someone to continue in un- congenial employment; or to refuse to accept the possibility of a small fine when a man's livelihood and future are at s t a k e ; or to break a contract by discharging someone because of staff reduction before his year is u p , in- volving him in at least one month with no pay while he waits to be recruited by another em- ployer.
Johannesburg Advice Office.
Labour Exploitation
The Black Sash, August, 107t IT Die Swart Serp, Augusta*, 197*