In a new weekly series, Weapons of the Week,* we explore the accessibility of workers' legal rights, in real life.
This week, we look at the right to strike - particularly, what it takes to enjoy a protected strike** in South Africa.
While you are being bombarded with news reports of 'strike season' and 'mass strike action', remember that for all the workers who go on strike in South Africa, hundreds more do not. It is not merely that this is a difficult decision to take (forfeiting wages), but also that a protected strike is difficult to carry out.
So next time you read about these mad striking workers and devil-may-care unions all over the country, this is what they did to reach 'striking point':
1. First, they would have formulated a set of demands concerning 'disputes of interest' - these are things that are of interest to both them and the employer. The typical 'disputes of interest' relate to wages and benefits - they are distinct from disputes of right which workers are expected to take to the CCMA.
2. The union or workers would have then tried to negotiate with the bosses for these demands to be met.
3. The workers then would largely have been ignored unless they were acting through an established majority union.
At this point, the contemptuous treatment may have given rise to a mood to strike, but instead...
4. The union or workers would have filled out a CCMA form. Yes, if workers want to go on strike, they must fill out a form.
5. The union or workers would have gone to the CCMA a few times, and would have tried to reach an agreement under the auspices of the CCMA.
6. If the Commissioner was satisfied that an agreement could not be reached on the wages or whatever was being demanded, he would have issued a strike certificate. If not, the workers would have waited for 30 days to run.
7. Picketing rules regulating workers' movements and requiring a union to police its members would have been imposed.
With that , the mood to strike may have been returning, and workers would have wanted to walk off the job. But then...
8. They would have first served a detailed 48-hour notice of their intention to strike. (Or a seven-day notice if they were state employees.)
9. Finally, assuming a court interdict was not granted in the window available for bosses to rush to court, the workers will have waited for the full 48 hours or seven days and not a second less than that.
And then they would have started their strike. So impulsive.
* This is a most inaccurate play on James C Scott's idea. We don't really understand these things.
**. A protected strike is a strike that complies with section 64 of the Labour Relations Act. Workers on a protected strike may not be dismissed by their bosses for going on strike. (The bosses therefore have to find other reasons to dismiss the workers - and they do.)
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