3.9 Labour law and labour market policy
This Ninth National Congress notes:

1. Recent efforts to weaken labour rights in legislation.
2. Attempts by certain companies to avoid the obligations of law by casualising the employment relationship.
3. The use of representivity tests in the law to undermine bargaining councils.
4. Current attempts to change the Labour Court through transferring its work to the provincial divisions of the High Courts, and remove the right through Nedlac for labour to have a say in appointment of judges.

Believing:

1. Centralised bargaining is crucial to ensure workers at small businesses have proper rights negotiated through trade unions.
2. Bargaining Councils need to be strengthened.
3. The legitimacy of the labour courts requires effective stakeholder involvement in the appointment of judicial officers.

Rejecting:

1. Calls for labour market flexibility that amount to stripping workers of their rights and are in fact a call for a return to the dark past of our country for ordinary workers
2. The reports and ill-informed analyses of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) that constitute an attack on the rights of the poor, the marginalised and workers.
Therefore this Ninth National Congress resolves:
1. To defend the rights of workers in the labour laws with all our energy and power and to ensure that other laws such as the Competition Act, be amended to protect rights of employment
2. To campaign to strengthen bargaining councils through a range of measures, including:

a. Ensuring Bargaining Councils are set up in more sectors to ensure that larger numbers of workers are covered;
b. Unions improving their current levels of representivity in bargaining councils and build strong, large unions in each bargaining council;
c. Changes to section 32 of the LRA to ensure a lower threshold of representivity applicable to a bargaining council to be used by the Minister for purposes of extending collective agreements concluded in bargaining councils. This should not change existing criteria for admission to bargaining councils;
d. Bargaining Councils to receive a full subsidy from the Department of Labour for all dispute resolution services that they provide.

3. To fight to retain labour rights for workers in small businesses through:

a. A co-ordinated campaign to unionise small businesses, drawing on successful experiences such as in motor, clothing and other sectors;
b. Strengthening the rights of workers to utilise freedom of association and collective bargaining rights.

4. To address casualisation and labour broking through changes to the law, as well as statutory Codes, to ensure full protection of workers and the growth of secure, decent work.
5. To combat the abuse of labour brokers and contracts including where permanent work is structured through fixed-term contracts, and in this context, to ensure.

a. That companies are not able to use fixed-term contracts to avoid granting rights to workers;
b. That the exact terms of liability on the contractor and main employer is fixed and clearly defined such that workers are able to access the rights they are due in labour laws and collective agreements;
c. Transfer of contracts of employment where a commercial contract is transferred from one business to another, but the underlying work continues;
d. Procedures and protections available in the LRA are available to contract workers.

6. To campaign that all public and private tenders clearly require that all tenders fully comply with all their labour standards requirements, including labour legislation and collective bargaining agreements, and that the tender price be set at a rate that allows companies to meet their labour standard obligations.
7. To campaign for:

a. The retention of a specialist Labour Court with national jurisdiction but with facilities in all provinces in order to ensure access;
b. Continuation of NEDLAC’s role in the appointment of judges in labour matters;
c. A system that allows shop stewards and union officials to continue to represent workers in the court.

8. To serve a section 77 notice on reforms to the judiciary that undermines the gains made in the LRA on issues of appointment, specialisation and representation.
9. To review the emerging case-law on labour rights, to ensure that the rights of workers are not undermined, and in this context to consider changes to the LRA required to address the problems raised by the Fry’s Metal case
10. To strengthen the fight against retrenchments and unfair dismissals, including through:

a. Amending the LRA to grant workers in enterprises employing fewer that 50 workers the right to strike against retrenchment;
b. Ensuring that the desire to expand profits is not regarded as a operational requirement for purpose of retrenchment;
c. Campaigning for severance pay to be increased to 4 weeks per year of service;
d. Addressing the issue of representation at the CCMA so that advocates and attorneys who practice for their own account are not permitted to represent parties in individual dismissal cases.

11. To protect the right of workers to key organisational rights, including:

a. Ensuring that the right to demonstrate and picket is defended, and that the police is trained and equipped to deal with crowd control in a peaceful manner;
b. Reviewing the operation of limitations on rights to association and to strike, including in essential services, solidarity strikes, the Police Act and the National Keypoints Act.

12. To call for the following amendments to the Basic Conditions of Employment Act:

a. Provision for a special sectoral determination aimed at addressing the plight of workers in atypical jobs since they are the most vulnerable;
b. Amending Section 54 to compel the Employment Conditions Commission (ECC) to set itself the objective of combating high levels of atypical employment when advising the Minister on Sectoral Determinations;
c. Introducing a provision which increases the number of the ECC members by providing for a community constituency representative in the commission;
d. The working week should be reduced to 40 hours without any loss of income or benefits;
e. Increase family responsibility leave;
f. Increase the sick leave provided to workers with AIDS or a terminal illness.
13. To review existing legislation and Codes to meet key concerns, including:
a. The Employment Equity Act to address the wage gap;
b. Skills Development Act to ensure greater access by ordinary workers, especially black people and women;
c. Codes of Good Practice to align them with legislation and that they benefit ordinary workers and not just senior managers and professionals.

14. To improve the fight against racism, sexism and vulnerable employment.
15. To strengthen monitoring and enforcement of labour laws, including increasing the number of inspectors.