Business Day
*Labour bills lay new ground rules for strikes* *SAPA, Business Day, Johannesburg, 5 April 2012*HIGH levels of illegal strikes will be addressed through amendments to SA's labour laws, according to the Department of Labour.
The first in a series of public briefings on the department's labour law amendment bills --- the Labour Relations Act Amendment Bill and the Basic Conditions of Employment Act Amendment Bill --- began in Johannesburg yesterday.
Chief director of collective bargaining Thembinkosi Mkalipi told the briefings that trade unions would need to conduct ballots to ensure that the majority of members agreed on the need to strike. It was understood that unlawful acts, such as damage to property and violence, in support of industrial action, often occurred where only a minority supported the cause for the strike.
Unions would also have to abide by picketing rules or lose protection for their strike. If employers contravened picketing agreements, they would lose the right to employ temporary or "scab" labour while the strike lasted.
To address illegal strikes affecting essential services, the bill provided for an essential services committee to determine which services qualified as essential. It would also be responsible for the negotiation of minimum service level agreements.
"Our colleagues in labour want everyone to go on strike, but business want nobody to go on strike," Mr Mkalipi said.
Greater powers would be given to the labour minister when the bill was passed into law. The minister would determine the threshold level of representation of a union to improve workers' access to union protection in sectors where this need was not fully realised.
The minister would also be empowered to set wage increases, as opposed to minimum wages, for vulnerable workers in certain sectors.
The amendments would also protect workers by tightening up the law around labour broking. Temporary work would be defined as work that lasted no more than six months, Mr Mkalipi said.
Dumisani Dakile, of the Congress of South African Trade Unions, said labour was "highly disappointed" that broking was not outlawed in the bills. "Slavery was far better than labour brokering," he said.
Labour Minister Mildred Oliphant submitted the bills to the Cabinet on March 14, and their submission to Parliament was approved the following week.
Mr Mkalipi said Parliament could put the bills up for further public hearings, but the department had conducted these in 2010 and would not make further changes.
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