Forty (40) Negotiators from Government and Public Service Workers' Unions complete ILO training on Mutual Gains negotiation Skills
About forty (40) government and trade union negotiators have been trained on mutual gains negotiation skills. They were drawn from the National Joint Negotiation Council (NJNC) and the Health Service Bipartite Negotiating Panel (HSBNP). The NJNC and the HSBNP are statutory bodies mandated to negotiate salaries and other conditions of service in the general civil service and the health services sector respectively.
10 November 2016
(ILO News) Harare: The training which was organized by the Ministry of Public Service, labour and Social Welfare, in partnership with the International Labour Office (ILO)-Country Office for Namibia and Zimbabwe was held at the Zimbabwe Institute of Public Administration and Management (ZIPAM).
The training was aimed at developing the knowledge and understanding of consensus-building approaches to conflict management and dispute resolution for the recently appointed members of the NJNC. The course placed emphasis on how negotiators can move from a traditional style of adversarial negotiating to a negotiation style that allows mutual gains and strengthened relationships among parties.
The training course also covered modern negotiation theory and best practice as well as ILO conventions and recommendations on freedom of association, collective bargaining and labour relations in the public service.
The Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Public Service, Labour and Social Welfare, Mr Ngoni Masoka, in a speech read on his behalf by Mr. Lender Dube from the Public Service Commission welcomed the training as both the Government and Workers teams were recently appointed and needed their capacities strengthened.
The Chairman of the NJNC, Mr Britto Chimbunde, expressed hope that the training course would help harmonize collective bargaining between Government and Civil Servants.
The promotion of collective bargaining at all levels is key to productive, equitable and stable employment relations. While an enabling regulatory framework and other measures to promote collective bargaining are essential, the effectiveness of collective bargaining is often hampered by the poor negotiating skills of the bargaining parties. They may adopt a negotiation style that does not allow them to reach satisfactory outcomes. Labour relations and negotiations between government and its workers have of late been challenging due to the formers’ inability to pay wages and salaries on time. As of this year, the government has still been paying balances for 2015 bonuses to some of its workers.
The lack of fiscal space, with employments costs accounting for over 90% of government revenue, has seen the parties exploring non-monetary means for remunerating and motivating workers including availing of land for residential stands. The parties are currently engaged in discussions on the modalities for such arrangements.
It is essential that the skills, knowledge and capacity of those representing employers and workers’ organisations are critical in preventing labour disputes and achieving outcomes and agreements that meet the interests of all parties. Effective negotiation skills are not achieved by mere ‘common sense’ but are acquired through a combination of appropriate training and practical experience.
"The course has equipped me with skills to effectively prepare and plan for negotiations, I recommend this course to all leaders, especially young leaders who want to bring positive changes in their communities," said Dr. Edgar Munatsi, President of the Zimbabwe Hospital Doctors Association (ZHDA).
The course was organised on the back of on-going labour law reforms that should see the extension of full collective bargaining rights to workers in the public service in line with ratified and non-ratified international labour standards.
The training was aimed at developing the knowledge and understanding of consensus-building approaches to conflict management and dispute resolution for the recently appointed members of the NJNC. The course placed emphasis on how negotiators can move from a traditional style of adversarial negotiating to a negotiation style that allows mutual gains and strengthened relationships among parties.
The training course also covered modern negotiation theory and best practice as well as ILO conventions and recommendations on freedom of association, collective bargaining and labour relations in the public service.
The Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Public Service, Labour and Social Welfare, Mr Ngoni Masoka, in a speech read on his behalf by Mr. Lender Dube from the Public Service Commission welcomed the training as both the Government and Workers teams were recently appointed and needed their capacities strengthened.
The Chairman of the NJNC, Mr Britto Chimbunde, expressed hope that the training course would help harmonize collective bargaining between Government and Civil Servants.
The promotion of collective bargaining at all levels is key to productive, equitable and stable employment relations. While an enabling regulatory framework and other measures to promote collective bargaining are essential, the effectiveness of collective bargaining is often hampered by the poor negotiating skills of the bargaining parties. They may adopt a negotiation style that does not allow them to reach satisfactory outcomes. Labour relations and negotiations between government and its workers have of late been challenging due to the formers’ inability to pay wages and salaries on time. As of this year, the government has still been paying balances for 2015 bonuses to some of its workers.
The lack of fiscal space, with employments costs accounting for over 90% of government revenue, has seen the parties exploring non-monetary means for remunerating and motivating workers including availing of land for residential stands. The parties are currently engaged in discussions on the modalities for such arrangements.
It is essential that the skills, knowledge and capacity of those representing employers and workers’ organisations are critical in preventing labour disputes and achieving outcomes and agreements that meet the interests of all parties. Effective negotiation skills are not achieved by mere ‘common sense’ but are acquired through a combination of appropriate training and practical experience.
"The course has equipped me with skills to effectively prepare and plan for negotiations, I recommend this course to all leaders, especially young leaders who want to bring positive changes in their communities," said Dr. Edgar Munatsi, President of the Zimbabwe Hospital Doctors Association (ZHDA).
The course was organised on the back of on-going labour law reforms that should see the extension of full collective bargaining rights to workers in the public service in line with ratified and non-ratified international labour standards.