Labour court victory for SACTWU!

Date: 10 December 2020

Media release: immediate

Labour court victory for SACTWU!

The COSATU-affiliated Southern African Clothing & Textile Workers’ Union (SACTWU) has won an important Labour Court judgment which strengthens the right to strike.

The background is as follows:

The South African Carpet Manufacturers’ Employers Association (SACMEA) had lodged an urgent Labour Court interdict application against a SACTWU-led wage strike in the carpet textile sector, in late October this year.

Our members in this sector had embarked on a national wage strike, after wage negotiations had, in our view, failed to yield a settlement.

The employers had claimed that the strike was unprotected (‘illegal’). They alleged that an agreement had already been reached which had settled our 2020 wage dispute. As legal substantiation, they argued that the earlier “South African Post Office vs Communication Workers Union” Labour Court judgment sets legal precedent regarding such matter.

In addition, they claimed that the Certificate of Non-Resolution, which had been issued by the Commissioner who had handled the conciliation of this wage dispute, had no standing in law.

The parties had been engaging in tough negotiations for months. A settlement appeared to have been reached which would guarantee annual bonus payments to employees. However, the employers claimed that the agreement was subject to a profitability exercise. The union rejected this claim that such a conditionality was ever agreed to.

The union then conducted a strike ballot and on receipt of a firm mandate to strike, sanctioned and called the wage strike. The strike commenced during the last week of October this year.

An interim interdict by consent was awarded, and SACTWU suspended the strike, pending the return Court date of 27 November 2020 when the matter was to be finally determined.

Labour Court Judge J Gush handed down judgment earlier this week, in favour of the trade union.

Amongst other, he ruled that “…Section 64 of the LRA (Labour Relations Act) provides that a condition precedent to embarking on protected industrial action is the issuing of a certificate that the dispute remains unresolved…”.

He concluded that “… the condition precedent to the respondents exercising the right to strike in terms of Section 64 of the LRA, namely that a certificate that the dispute remained unresolved had been satisfied..”.

In addition, the judgment stated that “…there is no evidence to suggest that the dispute was in fact resolved and agreement reached…”

This judgment is important in many respects, but mainly because it firmly refutes the previously held legal view that a Certificate of Non-Resolution has no standing in law.

The judgment, in summary, confirms that SACTWU’s carpet sector national wage strike is indeed a protected (‘legal’) strike.

The union is now considering its organisational options, including when to lift our voluntary suspension of this wage strike.

We will never allow employers to opportunistically use the COVID-19 pandemic to undermine and weaken our fight for a living wage.

We are deeply concerned about constant employer attacks on workers’ right to strike, not only in our sector.

We call on all trade unions and all workers in all industries to fiercely and determinedly resist such reactionary employer attempts to weaken our fundamental and constitutionally protected right to strike.

Issued by

André Kriel
SACTWU
GENERAL SECRETARY

If further information is required, kindly contact SACTWU 2nd National Organising Secretary and Carpet Sector National Negotiator, Mr Michael Shabalala, on cell number 081 782 3753.