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The Labour Relations Act of 1997 provides for the right (1) to fair labour practice, (2) to establish a trade union and to become a member of it, (3) to organise for joint bargaining, and (4) to strike and to be locked out.
Trade unions are the mouthpiece of the workers that they represent, seeing that they represent the workers in a certain sector in order to establish good relations between the employees and the employers. The relevant trade union should therefore strive towards promoting the social, economic and political interests of the employees. It is important to note that an employee is free to join a trade union and he / she may neither be prevented from doing so, nor be dismissed by the employer when he / she joins a trade union.
According to the Labour Relations Act trade unions have the following rights:
ACCESS TO THE WORKPLACE: The trade union has the right to canvass members within the workplace and to hold meetings during off hours.
MEMBERSHIP FEES: Contributions towards membership fees may be deducted from employees’ wages / salaries.
ELECTIONS: Representatives of the trade unions may be elected within the workplace.
SERVICE TO THE TRADE UNION: Trade union members are entitled to taking paid leave in order to perform their duties as trade union representatives and also for the purpose of undergoing training.
DISCLOSING INFORMATION: The trade union is entitled to any information that has a bearing on issues that concern the employees within the workplace.
According to the Labour Relations Act (1997) employees have the right to STRIKE (i.e. refusal to work, to work at a slower pace, and an embargo on working overtime), while employers have the right to LOCK OUT employees (i.e. physically preventing employees from entering the workplace). The two actions could, amongst other things, result from (1) an insistence on a wage or salary increase, (2) an insistence on recognising a trade union, or (3) an insistence on changing conditions in the workplace.
In general it is fair to expect that the activities of trade unions should be of such a nature that not only are the employees’ social, economic and political interests served, but that the interests of the South African economy as a whole should be fostered.
Judge the following translated extract from a report that appeared in Die Burger during October 2002, and evaluate the impact that strikes, in other words trade union action, had during 2001.
‘Last year strikes more than doubled and the country lost 1,25 million working days as a result of strikes, but it was a one-time occurrence and strike figures will drop again significantly in the next two years,’ allege Andrew Levy and Associates in their latest annual report on labour relations. Last year 1,25 million working days were lost as a result of strike action, as opposed to 5 000 000 the previous year.
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