Tag: collective bargaining

On 18 April 2023, the Constitutional Court handed down judgment in National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa (NUMSA) v Trenstar (Pty) Ltd (Trenstar). It had to consider the interpretation of section 76(1)(b) of the Labour Relations Act (LRA), which prohibits employers from using replacement labour during a lock-out unless the lock-out is in response to a strike.

New National Minimum Wage (NMW) hourly rates, which will have a significant impact on labour-intensive industries, were published by the Minister of Employment on 21 February 2023, in line with section 6(5) of the National Minimum Wage Act. They will take effect from 1 March 2023.

Those of us who operate in a wide range of workplaces - across all sectors and industries - will have noticed a sea change in the volume and nature of collective industrial action. Work stoppages, illegal strikes, go-slows and massive amounts of peer-to-peer intimidation amongst employee's, especially unionised workers, have increased.

Labour unions are undoubtedly the biggest obstacle to any positive reform, not because this particular group of individuals is somehow more evil than the rest of us. It is simply a rational response to the particular set of incentives that union bosses are faced with.

AI is incompatible with policies for labour growth and forespell the introduction of the basic income grant. Consultants across the globe continue to debate the opportunities, limitations and merits of implementing Artificially Intelligent (AI) solutions. They engage, argue and agree to disagree on the inevitable effect which AI will have on the labour market and the number of people employed in Decent Work.

The National Minimum Wage (NMW) is a crime against the poor of this country as it absolutely forbids them from accepting any compensation below the floor set by government. It is reasonable, therefore, to assume that some people who could be working are not employed because of the minimum wage.

Aadil Patel | National Practice Head, Director | Cliffe Dekker Hofmeyr | aadil.patel@cdhlegal.com | Samantha Coetzer | Consultant in the Employment practice | Cliffe Dekker...