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CEO CORNER: UNITED WE STAND
(Extract from Print Talk
June 2007)
Because a lot of what the Federation does is
not immediately visible, and also because much of it
is long-term
or structural in nature, I would like to remind
readers of some of the things that PIFSA is involved
with on
behalf of our members and the industry.
National umbrella organisations carry weight with
national government because we speak on behalf of an
entire industry, and not simply on behalf of
narrower provincial or individual company interests.
This is not
to say that we don’t take up specific issues on
behalf of certain of our members – we do, and we
will continue
to do so – but we balance the various interests
which exist, to speak objectively on behalf of the
broader
industry.
PIFSA members represent a broad cross-section of
views on issues such as centralised bargaining and
we<
need to accommodate all of our members. The majority
still appear to prefer company level bargaining, but
there are those which believe that a more
centralised approach will “level the playing fields”
between competing companies. As an
organisation we will continue to represent the
interests of all of our members as these develop and
change. We have made a way for the
labour expertise of our staff to made available to
all of our members by establishing separate employer
associations which represent the
differing views on centralisation but which still
give an opportunity for our members to work together
on the other issues on which they
agree.
I have previously written about the elimination of
most tariffs on paper and board, and this has
already had an impact on the input costs
of the industry. Unfortunately the Paper
Manufacturers Association has interdicted the
Minister of Finance from tabling these changes
in Parliament and it seems as if we have another
legal battle on our hands.
PIFSA is involved with the creation, implementation
and monitoring of standards for security printers.
Erich Kuhl and Louise Moralee
are doing a lot of work to protect the interests of
our cheque and security printers. We are also
engaged in in-depth consultation with a
financial services firm on the commercialisation of
the Government Printing Works. We are running BBBEE
implementation
programmes with BEE2Business and are offering direct
assistance to our members in maximising their
scorecards. This is an area in
which many companies are offering dangerous
“quick-fixes” to companies. If BBBEE scores are not
correctly reflected, companies may
stand to be accused of misrepresentation and even be
prosecuted for this. We are encouraging the
methodical and thorough approach
adopted by BEE2Business and encourage members to use
their services.
In conjunction with Old Mutual, we are about to
offer a series of programmes to family-owned member
companies to assist them in planning for difficult issues like succession and
retirement. We developed the PIFSA Finance joint
venture, and are currently negotiating
a sort-term insurance product with another insurer
which will be cheaper and better than what is
currently available in the industry.
We have changed the demographics of training in our
industry through the creation of the CMTC in
Honeydew, and although the college no longer belongs
to PIFSA it continues to be responsive to the
demographic and skills needs of the industry. We
also facilitated and
financially enabled the establishment of the Cross
Media Training Centre’s Cape operation. Our
objective is to try to do the same in Kwa Zulu Natal
when funds permit.
PIFSA representative represent the industry on the
SATU Retirement and Employee Benefit Funds and on
the MAPPP SETA, where we face an ongoing campaign of
vilification from certain other industries and some
staff of that organisation. This will not deter us
from defending our industry’s and our members’
interests. PIFSA supports its members, and I thank
you sincerely for your support of us.
Cross Media your
Centre of Excellence
Established in 1993 Cross Media Training
Centre has over the years proven its
commitment and standing within
the Printing and Packaging Industries,
having trained in excess of 9000 people
and positively contributed to
changing the demographics of our
industry significantly.
It has done so during extremely
difficult conditions over the last 18
months and has been burdened with
ongoing
disputes regarding its funding. Positive
developments have however taken place
over the last 2 months, which has
resulted in a framework agreement
between MAPPP-SETA and CMTC as well as
the drafting of a service level
agreement to address and resolve some of
the funding issues.
The CMTC as your Centre of Excellence in
training remains committed and focused
to the cause of skills
development and will endeavor to meet
the targets of the MAPPP-SETA. The
National Skills Development
Strategy of the Department of Labour
clearly stated in 2005 that sectors were
to identify and fund Centres of
Excellence. CMTC has and always will
remain a training provider set up by
industry for industry focused on
industries identified training
requirements.
We would like to thank all the committed
companies who have supported us through
the difficult times and in
addition to this we would like to thank
the MAPPP-SETA mediation team, for their
time and effort in resolving the
unfortunate deadlock. |
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We would like to thank all the
committed companies who have
supported us through the difficult
times and in
addition to this we would like to
thank the MAPPP-SETA mediation team,
for their time and effort in
resolving the
unfortunate deadlock. |
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