Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 2015, published 105th ILC session (2016)

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

Article 1 of the Convention. Adequate protection of casual workers against anti-union discrimination. In its previous comments, the Committee had noted the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) allegations concerning the difficulties faced by casual workers, especially those employed by labour brokers, to join trade unions because of the fear of not having their fixed-term contracts of employment renewed in case of affiliation. Noting that the Labour Relations Amendment Act adopted in August 2014 contains provisions aiming at better protecting the rights of workers employed by labour brokers, the Committee requests the Government to provide information about the effects of such provisions on the effective protection of casual workers against acts of anti-union discrimination.

Article 4. Promotion of collective bargaining. Sectors of activity characterized by a high proportion of workers engaged in non-standard forms of employment. The Committee observes that section 21 of the Labour Relations Act, as amended by the Labour Relations Amendment Act adopted in August 2014, provides that, in case of a dispute about a trade union’s level of representativeness, the decision taken by the commissioner must, in addition to the factors already provided for in the law, also consider the extent to which there are workers engaged in non-standard forms of employment in the corresponding bargaining unit (temporary employment services (labour broker) employees, employees with fixed-term contracts, part-time employees, or employees in other categories of non-standard employment). The Committee observes that this provision is aimed at facilitating the capacity of unions to be considered representative, and therefore to engage in collective bargaining, in sectors employing a high proportion of non-standard workers, on the understanding that unions face additional difficulties to recruit these categories of workers. The Committee welcomes this new provision and requests the Government to provide information on its application and impact, especially on the coverage of non-standard workers by collective agreements.