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MANAGERS' ATTITUDES TOWARDS WORKPLACE TRADE UNIONISM AT A COAL MINING COMPANY
Mr E Mphahlele UNIVERSITY OF JOHANNESBURG 34 ABSTRACT
Trade unionism in South Africa has a history characterised by confrontation and antagonism between the employer and trade unions. However, in the South African contemporary labour relations environment the emphasis has shifted to the creation of constructive and cooperative relations between the employer and trade unions. The literature study cites managers' attitudes towards trade unions as one of the factors that could facilitate genuine interaction and promote productive cooperative management-trade union relations in the workplace. The objective was to assess managers' attitudes towards workplace trade unionism utilising a coal-mining company as a case study. This company has formally recognised three trade unions. The study was conducted pre-Marikana. From a stratified random sample, 78 managers completed the self-administered questionnaire. Exploratory factor analysis yielded three significant factors, namely pluralist (positive attitude and embrace trade unionism), social corporatist (consensus reaching) and unitarist (anti- union). The exploratory study provides valuable insights into manager's attitudes towards trade unionism. It represents original research that contributes new knowledge to the field of management.