Ms Patel wa a member of Executive Committee for International Textile Garment and Leather Workers' Federation; Chief Negotiator on Labour Relations Act in 1995; Patron for Bureau of Economics Research at the University of Stellenbosch; and overall Convenor for organised labour in South Africa.
He has served as as Global spokesperson on Employment and Social Policy for the Workers Group on the International Labour Organisation's (ILO) Governing Body; and has been a member of the South African national on trade policy since the World Trade Organisation (WTO) Ministerial Meeting in Singapore in 1996. Mr Patel has led labour engagement with government leaders as part of the preparations for the G20 Summit and has led negotiatians which resulted in the adoption of the ILO's Global Employment Agenda.
Mr Patel has been Chief Negotiator of the National Bargaining Council for the Clothing Industry in 2002; and he also led the Workers Group at the International Labour Conference of the ILO on discussions which led to the adoption of, Recommedation on the Employment Relationship in 2006, the Recommendation on the Promotion of Cooperatives between 2001 and 2002, Conclusions concerning Human Resources Training and Development in 2000 and Conclusions on the Employment Relationship in 2003.
He was an overall Labour Convener at National Economic Development and Labour Council (NEDLAC) and he was sitting as a Board member of the Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration (CCMA) and National Economic Forum (NEF). Mr Patel has served as a member of the Presidential Working Group for Organised Labour.
Mr Patel was also a member of the University of Cape Town Council; a member of the Millenium Labour Council; a member of the Proudly South African Board; a member of the COSATU Central Executive Committee; a Board member of Council for Higher Education; a member of the Clothing Industry Training Board; member of the Textile Industry Training Board; Board member of the Chris Hani Institute; Chief Negotiator of the National Textile Bargaining Council in 2003; and he has served as a Board member of the Financial and Fiscal Commission and Judicial Service Commission.
He has led negotiations which resulted in the adoption of ILO Declaration on Social Justice for a Fair Globalisation in 2008 and he has been involved in negotiations which resulted to the conclusion of the Framework for South Africa's response to the International Economic Crises adopted by NEDLAC in February 2009.
Mr Patel was a founder member of the Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU) and has served as a General-Secretary of the Southern African Clothing and Textile Workers Union (SACTWU) and an organiser in the National Union of Textile Workers (NUTW) which emerged out of the historic 1973 Durban strike. He Unionised the University of Cape Town, University of Western Cape and University of Stellenbosch workers who are now part of the National Education, Health and Allied Workers' Union (NEHAWU). He was also an Acting President of South African Labour Research Institute.
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