ILO

Back to index

Promotion of Decent Work in Southern African Ports (phase II) - Final Evaluation

eval_number:

2575

eval_url:

https://webapps.ilo.org/ievaldiscovery/eval/2575

lessons_learned:

themes:

theme:

Social dialogue

category:

Governance and Tripartism

---

comments:

Intermediate beneficiaries of the project included agencies representing the interests of organized business in the participating ports (DCT and Richards Bay under Transnet Port Terminals, and MSoE in South Africa, and the Port of Maputo under Maputo Port Development Company in Mozambique); and Trade Unions representing the interests of organized labour in these ports including SATAWU and UNTU in the case of South Africa, and SIMPEOC in the case of Mozambique. Ultimate beneficiaries of the project are the port workers in the participating ports in Durban and Richards Bay in South Africa and Port of Maputo in Mozambique.

challenges:

Key challenges facing project implementation included: (i) Organizational instabilities at the start of PWD phase 2 – with respect to DCT; (ii) Insufficient “buy-in” and practical commitment to planned project activities on the part of high-level management in both TPT and MPDC; (iii) High turnover of key staff - especially in DCT and Richards Bay; (iv) Significant level of mistrust between management and union staff as well as limited mindset change towards social dialogue as a means of conflict resolution in both countries; (iv) Inadequacy of project staffing as well limited HR development related skills of project staff in both countries; (v) Weak capacity and high illiteracy level among union staff as well as lack of training facilities and structured training interventions – in the case of Mozambique; (vi) The bureaucratic nature of decision- making in both Transnet and MPDC; (vii) The ambitious geographical scope – especially in light of limited human and financial resources of the project. Based on available foundational information base upon which the project was conceptualized and designed, it is clear that low productivity and competitiveness of the participating ports were largely attributed to lack of social dialogue and HR strategies that are not reminiscent of international best practices – resulting in confrontational relationships between workers and management and occasional industrial actions.

success:

The project has significantly demonstrated that social dialogue and HR development are fundamental and mutually reinforcing elements towards decent work for organized labour, increased productivity and competitiveness of the ports to the common benefit of all including workers, management and other port stakeholders. As a result, social dialogue has been welcomed and is increasingly being applied by organized labour and management in the beneficiary ports. Albeit slower than initially anticipated, it has also significantly contributed to improvements in the level of trust and dialogue between workers and management - which is a major transformation from the earlier situation where inter-party relationships were characterized by immense mistrust between the parties. The much success that has been achieved to date is mainly attributed to retention of phase 1 CTA during phase 2 and the overall hard work and commitment of the PMU staff to project development aspirations and planned activities.

context:

This lesson learned can be replicated in any port or any other organization faced with social dialogue related challenges and confrontational workplace relations between workers and management towards enhancing productivity and competitiveness as well as creation of sustainable decent work. However, practical commitment of high level union workers and management, and adequate project resources are critical preconditions for success. South Africa mining sector is one such area where this learned lesson can be applied.

description:

Promotion, Effectiveness and Sustainability of Social Dialogue: While promotion of social dialogue principles has a high potential for strengthening relationships between labour and management in any organization to the mutual benefits of both parties, this can only be effectively sustained by institutionalizing or integrating the intervention into the internal structures and operations of the ports; and its promotion and institutionalization requires not only patience owing to its inherent sensitivity but also some degree of well-considered exertiveness on the part of the implementers to avoid unnecessary drag on project implementation plans.

administrative_issues:

Key administrative issues included: (i) inadequacy of staff expertise – particularly in relation to HR development skills and given the geographical scope; (ii) Lack of TWGs to provide technical support to project steering committees; and (iii) design issues which are strongly linked to the failure to incorporate recommendations of End Term Evaluation (March 2013) and Mid Term Review (August 2014) during the design of phase 2–especially in relation to the need for the following: (a) adequate stakeholder consultations; (b) clear frameworks, mechanisms and plans of action for institutionalizing social dialogue into the day to day operations of the participating ports and operationalization of HR development strategies towards international best practices; (c) clear communication, sustainability and exit strategies; (d) effective and efficient M&E, knowledge and information sharing frameworks.

url:

https://webapps.ilo.org/ievaldiscovery/lessons/219137

---

location:

country:

Africa - regional

region:

Africa

---

eval_title:

Promotion of Decent Work in Southern African Ports (phase II) - Final Evaluation