A demarcation of majoritarianism within the South African and German labour law context

Abstract

Trade unions play a significant role during the collectively bargaining with the employer in order to uphold the interests and protection of employees’ rights within the labour relations framework of South Africa. Organised labour has evolved over the years, from not having been adequately protected in the past, to having constitutionally entrenched fundamental rights underpinned by international law. Furthermore, trade unions have the right to freedom of association and the right to organise, among others, and govern their own affairs. However, current trade union system is based on the classification of various types of unions on account of their membership representatives. Majority trade unions are subsequently afforded more privileges and organisational rights than minority unions. This institution is based on the majoritarian principle for the protection of collective bargaining. However, the current situation is that, this principle has the propensity of impinging on the rights of other smaller unions. Thus, the legislature is has made some significant changes to allow the commissioner to grant smaller unions leeway into the workplace. This dissertation aims to analyse the extent to which the South African legal system has gone to demarcate the majoritarian principle and its adverse implications. This will be done with the aid of a comparative study of the German labour law system of trade unions.