Committee Programme, Business Plan and Annual Report: adoption

Meeting report

LABOUR PORTFOLIO COMMITTEE
9 November 2004
COMMITTEE PROGRAMME, BUSINESS PLAN AND ANNUAL REPORT: ADOPTION

Chairperson: Ms O Kasienyane (ANC)

Documents handed out
Committee Programme
Committee Business Plan
Committee Annual Report (available on request from PMG)

SUMMARY
Members briefly deliberated on and unanimously adopted their draft Committee Programme, Business Plan and Annual Report. Members expressed particular concern about absenteeism and how this impacted negatively on Committee performance, the need to rethink timelines for meetings with the Programming Committee, and to intensify research. The Committee agreed to increase the delegation to the ILO Conference to ten members, and that they would focus on particular countries and ILO committees for close interaction there.

MINUTES
The Chairperson said the Committee’s Programme was informed by its Business Plan. The Committee should step up its oversight role to assess department compliance with related legislation, and other matters falling within its jurisdiction.

Mr O Mogale (ANC) said Members would have been well informed about the business plan, and would have been able to prioritise strategic areas, if they had received the Growth and Development Summit agreement and the skills development document ahead of the meeting. He also expressed his concern about why the Committee always struggled to reach a quorum.

Ms Z Mkhize (ANC) commented that the time setting for meetings was ‘out of proportion’ and that had been the cause of absenteeism. She had had four meetings at the same time, and they needed to rethink meeting timelines with the Programming Committee. The Chairperson agreed.

Mr Anthony said that in the future Members should access documents on the Internet.

Mr L Maduna (ANC) commented that the three-member delegation for international and continental trips was not sufficient, especially for participation in all commissions of the International Labour Organisation (ILO) and to make an impact in developing labour standards. He wanted clarity on why only Morocco had been chosen for the continental trip. The Chairperson said there would be visits to other countries as necessary.

A Member commented on his visits to the ILO as a trade unionist, and expressed his concern about the latitude shown in developing labour standards by Parliament. He suggested an greater representation of the Committee on the ILO commissions in order to have a better understanding of the work of the ILO.

Mr Mogale proposed that the delegation consist of ten Members. The Committee was faced with the challenge of ensuring the creation of jobs, and thus had to intensify research into comparable international experiences.

Mr Maduna said it was necessary to balance trip costs with Committee budget constraints, but also with capacity. It was thus imperative to identify particular countries at the ILO conference on which to focus interactions.

A Member pointed out that ILO reports on labour standards indicated prominent countries with higher labour standards, so they should investigate those countries and the most important ILO Committees before sending a delegation of ten people.

Members then unanimously adopted their Business Plan, Programme and Annual Report.

Mr M Mzondeki (ANC) reported that Committee absenteeism had been raised in an ANC meeting, and would be further considered when they resumed work in 2005.

The meeting was adjourned.