A critique of recent developments on the regulation of collective agreements in South African Labour Law : extension and enforcement to Non-Parties

Abstract

Collective agreements play a significant role in the regulation of collective bargaining, they are referred to as an end result of the process of collective bargaining. Collective bargaining transpires either between an individual employer and a representative trade union at plant level, or between a majority trade union(s) and an employer's organisation(s) at a bargaining council at sectoral level. Collective agreements may be extended to and enforced upon non-parties in terms of the Labour Relations Act 66 of 1995, the extension and enforcement of a collective agreement is imperative to the endorsement of the objectives of the LRA which is to promote orderly and centralised collective bargaining. The notion of the extension and enforcement of collective agreements to non-parties is based upon the principle of majoritarianism, irrespective of the principle having the propensity to impinge on the rights of non-parties. The idea behind the LRA and its provisions is to promote orderly collective bargaining. This dissertation seeks to analyse the extensions and enforcement of collective agreements to non-parties in South Africa, and also discuss recent developments in respect of these extensions and enforcements. The dissertation will assess how the judiciary has been addressing these recent developments. A consideration of best practices will also be conducted between South Africa, Slovakia, Italy and United Kingdom to determine if South Africa's system works best or whether there is room for improvement.