UNIVERSITY OF CAPE TOWN SPORTS MEDICINE INFORMATION SERVICE SPORTS MEDICINE is a relatively new discipline of Medicine. There is hence a rapid expansion of knowledge in the areas of exercise physiology, exercise biochemistry, medical aspects related to physical activity and sports related injuries. Obtaining the information may be difficult because of limited access to library service, excessive cost of I international journal subscriptions and limited time] for literature searches by busy physiotherapists. The UCT Sports Medicine Information Service can solve these difficulties for you. YOU WILL BENEFIT FROM THE UCT SPORTS MEDICINE INFORMATION SERVICE if you are a. PHYSIOTHERAPIST interested in Sports Medicine. THE UCT SPORTS MEDICINE INFORMATION SERVICE PROVIDES YOU WITH • annual subscription to a specialised sports medicine information service at a cost lower than subscription to one international journal. • a monthly list of important recent publications which have been identified by experts. • the option of requesting a copy of any of the listed publications at a minimal cost per page. • an income tax certificate is available. APPLICATION FORMS AND FURTHER INFORMATION CAN B E OBTAINED FROM UCT SMIS, P O Box 3 8 5 6 7 , Pinelands 7 4 3 0 , or please phone Dr MP Schwellnus at (021) 4 0 6 -6 5 0 4 . NEW LABOUR LEGISLATION by Anna Bizos Most of you are aware of the new Public Service Labour Relations Act (PSLRA) of 1993. You may not however, be aware of the im p lic a tio n s th a t th is h as for physiotherapists in the public sector. They are far reaching, especially in the area of collective bargaining for salaries and con ditions of service. The new act signals a fundamentally different era for the regulation of public employment relationships. The principles o f fr e e d o m o f a s s o c ia tio n n o w e x te n d to public servants, and structures for collec tive bargaining have been established. The principles of the PSLRA include, inter alia, prohibition of intimidation, the duty of employers to negotiate with un ions on substantive issues and the right of an employer to exercise its managerial rights and prerogative, su bject to the PSLRA. However, it is in the area of collective bargaining that we as physiotherapists are going to have a problem. Bargaining on issues including salaries, terms and conditions of employment, dis ciplinary and related procedures will take place at a departmental chamber (of which there will be 32). Members of the different chambers are representatives of employ ees, employed by the relevant depart ments. This is the crux, - to gain admission to the chambers, the SASP would require 1,000 of its members to be working in the public sector. Sadly, we fall far short of this. Therefore we are effectively denied a platform to negotiate on our own behalf. It is essential that the National Hospital Group, under the auspices of the SASP, investigate alternative structures to facili tate bargaining. There are several alterna tives. • The SASP could continue appealing against this seemingly unfair arrange ment. • The NHG could encourage member ship of one of the public servants asso ciations such as PSA or Hospersa, who if they had 50% membership or more, would present our case. • SASP membership to PHOSA - Profes sional Health Organisation of South Af rica - who would act collectively for disciplines such as physiotherapy, OT and speech therapy. • Join a union. • Ask an organisation such as MASA to act on our behalf. All such avenues are being pursued. In the interim it must be realised that "in puts" for 1994/95 may be jeopardised. The following must also be considered. In the most recent PAS (December 1993) from the Commission for Administration, the occupational class "physiotherapy" was abolished. We now belong to a new class, known as "H ealth Therapists - along with OT's, radiographers, speech thera pists, dental therapists and oral hygien- ists". This also has huge implications. On a positive note it may allow us to bargain collectively and gives clout to PHOSA. The down side is that there are many differ ences between the qualifications, needs and expectations of, fo r in s ta n c e , a n o ra l hygienist and a physiotherapist. Posts previously allocated to physio therapy may well be lost as other "health therapists" are appointed to the "health therapy" establishment. This is of special concern where physiotherapy services have been undeserved or irregular. I have submitted this to the Journal, so that all SASP m em bers (sadly not all physiotherapists) are aware of the dilem mas and issues facing the physiotherapists in the public sector. We shall need your support and input if we are going to have a say on our own behalf. Acknowledgem ents: Details of the PSLRA taken from an article by Peter Deale in People Dynamics January 1994. * Page 37 R ep ro du ce d by S ab in et G at ew ay u nd er li ce nc e gr an te d by th e P ub lis he r (d at ed 2 01 3. )