Alistair Smith is a seasoned labour mediator, chairperson and facilitator with over twenty-five years’ practical experience in the labour relations field.  He specialises in facilitating collective bargaining, workplace cooperation and joint planning and stakeholder consultative processes.  He is also a competent arbitrator and adult trainer.

He worked as a Specialist in Social Dialogue and Labour Administration for the International Labour Office (ILO) in the South Asia region. In this capacity he was part of a multi-disciplinary Decent Work Team advising governments, employers and trade unions.  He was the Executive Director of the National Economic Development and Labour Council (NEDLAC) where part of his job involved facilitating various tripartite plus consultative processes and chairing the Section 77 Committee (on Socio-Economic Protest Action).  

He was also appointed as the General Secretary of the Metal and Engineering Industries Bargaining Council (2003-2011) and prior to this he was a national organiser and lead negotiator for NUMSA in the metal and engineering sector (1985-1993). He also headed up the IMSSA labour services project (1997-1999).  He holds a Master’s degree in Development Studies from the Institute for Development Studies, Sussex University.  He is trained in advanced negotiation skills, training design and methodology and advanced facilitation skills.  He also successfully completed all modules of the CCMA Commissioner Training (2011).