The Metal and Engineering Industries Bargaining Council faces a bleak future after a call for it to be shut down.Employers, who make a substantial financial contribution to the council, want it placed under administration.Among the major contributors are the National Employers' Association of South Africa and the South African Engineering and Founders Association. They cite mismanagement of funds and poor management by the council.Ross Williams, the chairman of Saefa, said problems at the council were "self-inflicted".Saefa said the council ought to be placed under administration before any levy increase could be granted.The council has a R14-million deficit. It has also been accused of not providing financial statements to members for the past two years.The council serves about 300,000 employees and 10,000 employers and has been unable to pay some of its bills. It has stopped its involvement in the facilitation of dispute resolution, one of its core functions, as a result.The council has asked for an 18% levy increase, which some employer bodies that contribute to it have rejected.The bargaining council, which is a statutory body established to regulate employment relations in the metal and engineering industries, has not increased levies - which are collected from workers and employers - since 2011.Williams, whose association represents about 620 member companies with more than 52,000 workers, said it was not true that employers had blocked levy increases since 2011."All the parties - including unions and employers - had a five-year agreement that levies would only be increased in 2015, but when that time came, the bargaining council was not ready to submit a new agreement to the Department of Labour, which has resulted in delays," he said."Our view is that there cannot be any fee increase until the bargaining council is placed under curatorship or under administration where an independent curator steps in and the management hands over its financial statements."Should they [the bargaining council] get more money, it is just going to exacerbate the problems. In the business world such an organisation would have collapsed a long time ago," said Williams. For the bargaining council to be saved we need the levies to continue - and to be increased Neasa has said it will not support any levy increase until the council presents a full picture of its financial position.Neasa CEO Gerhard Papenfus said the council's request for an increase in levies without it providing any recent financial statements was opportunistic."We are really in the dark about the council's financial statements. All we know is that the council is in a dire financial crisis."It does not comply with the rest of the industry and now it wants to increase levies," said Papenfus."We do not think the increase will help solve the problems."The poor financial health of the council was also the result of it having embarked on numerous lengthy legal actions.However, the council's general secretary, Thulani Mthiyane, said the bargaining unit of the council had been attending to a number of legal cases brought by employer bodies as well as trade unions."We are cited as respondents in most of the legal cases involving workers and employers, and because there is so much tension among the members of the bargaining council every dispute ends up in court and this has cost us a lot."Mthiyane said it was not true that the council had not presented its financial statements to the industry."In fact all financial statements were forwarded to each individual management committee, which includes all employers."However, he did concede that financial statements had not been presented to the industry at an annual general meeting. This was because the bargaining council's management committee - on which trade unions, employer bodies and council staff are represented - had decided to stop holding AGMs, which had become "disruptive and very confrontational".Mthiyane added that audited financial statements had been submitted to the Department of Labour.Furthermore, financial results for the past two years had not been presented at an AGM because the council was waiting for Seifsa and Neasa's arbitration awards on the allocation of employer seats on the council.Mthiyane said in the event that some employers voted against the levy increase, the council would rely on the majority votes from trade unions and the rest of employers.He said even if the bargaining council appointed an independent curator, that person would recommend that levies be increased before they could carry out their task.Seifsa CEO Kaizer Nyatsumba said the association was aware that not all of its members supported the 18% levy increase and a final decision on the matter would be discussed at a meeting next week. It is very difficult for the council to function - there is too much fighting, which is not helpful to workers "We are guided by the mandate that comes from the Seifsa council meeting. This matter is being currently discussed by the association and there is no official position taken yet," said Nyatsumba.Asked whether the demise of the bargaining council would affect labour relations in the sector, Williams said: "I don't believe that the demise of the Metal and Engineering Industries Bargaining Council would signal the end of the collective bargaining."There is no reason that collective bargaining cannot continue directly between employer groupings and labour."In the absence of the bargaining council, employers would continue to do all things necessary to ensure the survival and sustainability of the social protection mechanisms that are currently agreed on through the council - including the pension and provident funds, the sick fund, and so on," said Williams.But Marius Croucamp, deputy general secretary of trade union Solidarity, said it was crucial that the bargaining council continue to function."For the bargaining council to be saved we need the levies to continue - and to be increased," he said.Croucamp said Solidarity had written a letter to Minister of Labour Mildred Olifant this week asking her to intervene in the crisis facing the country's biggest private-sector bargaining council ."The conflict and a lot of litigation in the council have derailed the council's mandate - which is to facilitate the resolution of disputes between workers and employers."Croucamp said the council had faced a flood of litigation - including from his union - in recent years."It is very difficult for the council to function - there is too much fighting, which is not helpful to workers."That is why we have asked the minister to urgently intervene and find a solution all parties agree on so that we all can move forward."magwazan@sundaytimes.co.za..