The Civil Engineering Contractor February 2018 | Page 6

ON POLICYMAKERS’ DESKS
Civil engineering bargaining council charting the way
The council’s services to members include training, compliance assistance, and oversight of industry medical aid
and provident funds.
With the Bargaining Council for the Civil Engineering
Industry (BCCEI) representing two unions and two employer
organisations, and providing services to 760 companies and
68 000 employees, much is at stake when it comes to ensuring
compliance and stability in the sector.
“The council offers a range of valuable services to the
civil engineering sector, but the most vital is to be deeply
immersed in the complexity of the labour relations arena and
assist parties to build trust and establish relationships,” says
BCCEI secretary general, Nick Faasen.
The council’s party members are the Building,
Construction and Allied Workers Union (BCAWU) and the
National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) on the employees’
side, while employers are represented by the South African
Forum of Civil Engineering Contractors (SAFCEC) and
the small-business focused Consolidated Employers’
Organisation (CEO).
Faasen says that a level of trust is always necessary to
ensure that role players can engage in negotiations in a way
that supports finding overlapping needs and interests, and
engage in a constructive manner and listen to each other.
As part of this process, members of the National
Negotiating Forum (NNF) have been undergoing
training courses to improve their negotiation skills and
build relationships. During 2016, two training courses
from the International Labour Organisation (ILO) were
completed, and in 2017, this was followed up by a
Collective Bargaining/Negotiation Skills Course, which
4 - CEC February 2018
paved the way for a Relationship Buildin