Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 2010, published 100th ILC session (2011)

Right to Organise and Collective Bargaining Convention, 1949 (No. 98) - South Africa (Ratification: 1996)

The Committee takes note of the Government’s report. The Committee also notes the communication dated 24 August 2010 from the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) concerning anti-union discrimination acts and obstacles to collective bargaining. The Committee requests the Government to provide its observations on the matters raised by the ITUC.

In its previous comments, the Committee requested the Government to provide more specific information on the level of trade union membership in the agricultural sector, as well as the number of collective agreements concluded in that sector and their coverage. The Government states that according to the Statistics South Africa Quarterly Labour Force Survey of 2009, there are 710,000 employees in the agricultural sector. However, it is one of the less organized sectors due to the difficulty experienced by trade unions in accessing members and potential members, and due to the number of small trade unions that try to operate. As a result, there are 106,500 unionized employees in the agricultural sector, which gives a 15 per cent trade union membership. The Government adds that there is no information available on existing collective agreements in the agricultural sector since it is most likely that agreements are negotiated at company and farm level. Finally, the Government refers to the fact that in order to protect vulnerable workers in the sector, minimum wages and conditions of employment are set on an annual basis under the framework of the Basic Conditions of Employment Act (Act No. 5 of 1997). The Committee takes note of this information and encourages the Government to promote collective bargaining in the agricultural sector and to endeavour to collect data on collective agreements in the sector and the number of workers covered.