<--- Back to contents

Chapter 8 - Labour Law

Trade unions

Balance of power between employers and workers

All workers want more money. But employers want big profits. So there is a problem. There is a 'conflict of interests'. Employers won't listen if one worker asks for more money. An employer will just say 'you must leave the job'. Some of the other problems facing workers are bad working conditions, lack of respect, grievances not dealt with, neglect of workers' health and safety, retrenchment and no chance to get more skills.

The employer has a lot of power compared to the worker.

• The employer owns the company. The worker owns nothing except the ability to work.
• The employer has the power to hire and fire the worker. The worker and family depend on the employer to make a living.
• The employer has the power to decide and to give orders. The worker can make no decisions except to work or to leave the job.
• The employer builds up more wealth and power. The worker lives from day to day.

When workers stand together they are much stronger. They can talk to the employers with one strong voice. When workers unite and complain, it is difficult for the employers to refuse to listen. The employers cannot do without the workers. They cannot keep firing people because new workers must be found and trained. This all takes time and money.

What is a trade union?

Workers can organise themselves into worker's organisations called trade unions. Workers who belong to a trade union are organised workers.

A trade union is:

• controlled by its members
• run by its members
• paid for by its members.

Organised workers in factories elect shop stewards and committees to represent them and report back to them in the workplace. The shop stewards and workers discuss the problems in the workplace and the shop stewards take the workers' problems to the management.

What are the aims of trade unions?

• To negotiate with employers

• for decent wages and conditions of work
• for recognition by the employer of the unions and shopstewards in the workplace
• for agreements and ways for these agreements to work, for example, agreements about maternity benefits, paternity benefits, retrenchment, health and safety, and so on.

• To protect workers

• from unfair dismissal and unfair labour practices
• from discrimination and abuse.

• To educate workers

• on their rights and how to enforce these rights
• on how to carry out their tasks in the trade union.

• To represent workers

• to the employers and other authorities
• to get and improve benefits, for example UIF, Compensation, pension, and so on.

• To take legal action when necessary.
• To unite with other unions, to strengthen the workers' power to negotiate with employers and other authorities.

The strike is the ultimate weapon of organised workers. But not every strike succeeds. Other ways for workers to put pressure on the employer include going on a go-slow, refusing to work overtime, taking legal action when necessary, and so on.

Employers are more willing to negotiate if they know that united worker action is possible. The union is not just the paid union workers or organisers who work in the union office in the middle of the city. They cannot solve workers' problems. The union is made up of workers at shop-floor level who act together to solve problems.

The union subscription

When any worker joins a union, he or she is asked to pay the subscription fee to become a member. Workers pay the subscription fee each week or month. These fees are also called 'subs'. The amount of the fee is written in the union constitution.

Why should workers pay subscription fees?

The union needs money to pay for its expenses. The members pay for the union expenses because the members must control the union. Then the union can be independent from the control of other people.

The union's expenses are for things like wages for union staff, rent of office, transport for union staff in connection with their work, stationery, postage, telephone, education funds, sickness benefits, funeral benefits, legal expenses, and so on. By putting all their subscriptions together, workers can pay these expenses.

How do workers pay subscriptions?

• Sometimes workers pay subscriptions in cash to the shopsteward. The worker must always get a receipt from the shopsteward.
• Sometimes subscriptions are deducted by the employer if the union has an agreement with the employer for stop orders and the members have signed stop order forms. The employer must pay the money collected by stop order to the union.

The right of workers to form, join and take part in trade unions

The Labour Relations Act says that workers have the right to form and join trade unions. This right is protected by law. This right is called freedom of association.

Domestic workers and farmworkers are also covered by the Labour Relations Act, and have a right to belong to unions and to organise.

Domestic workers working in private homes: Union organisers do not have the right to enter the home of an employer, unless the employer gives permission. The employer does not have to give information to a union, for example about his or her income.

Farmworkers: Union organisers have to negotiate access onto the farms with the farmers. If the farmer refuses, the matter can be taken up with the Department of Labour or the Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration.

Employers are not allowed to make it a condition of employment that a worker must or must not belong to a trade union. It is the worker's choice.

A worker also cannot be victimised because he or she is a member of a trade union. This means the employer cannot treat the worker unfairly or badly because the worker is a trade union member.

Trade union rights in the workplace

A registered union, that has less than 50% of the workers as members but still a lot of members at a workplace, can apply for these rights:

• union office bearers and officials can get access to the workplace
• union meetings can be held at the workplace
• the union can ballot its members (like taking a vote)
• stop-order facilities
• workers who are members can get leave for trade union activities
• This is regarded as being ‘sufficiently representative’; a threshold of 30% is generally seen as being the level required.

A registered union that has a majority (more than 50%) of the workers as members at a workplace, can apply for these rights as well:

• election of shop stewards
• the employer must give the union any information that is relevant for meetings and negotiations

The union applies to the employer for these rights. Within 30 days the employer must meet the union. They make a collective agreement about these rights. The union can ask the CCMA to intervene if the employer refuses. The CCMA will try to mediate and if that fails, will arbitrate.

Unions that belong to Bargaining Councils or Statutory Councils automatically have these rights, even if they don't have many members at a workplace.

Paralegals working in trade unions

Paralegal workers can either work in trade unions or they can work outside of unions, for example, in advice offices giving advice on labour issues. Organisers, shopstewards, and training officers need paralegal skills to do their work in unions. They are paralegal workers inside the unions.

The role of paralegals in trade unions and paralegals outside of trade unions is different, although their aims might be similar. This is because the paralegal in the trade union is directly accountable to the union while paralegals outside of the union are not directly accountable to the union.

Problems for advice office workers dealing with labour issues

In many rural areas there are no trade union offices or organisers. So sometimes it is not easy to refer a problem to a trade union. Then the advice office paralegal is in a better position to help workers.

Sometimes an organiser is called out to a rural area to deal with a problem. After a few days he or she might leave the area without properly solving the problem. The worker then keeps coming back to the paralegal in the advice office who is unable to help.

But some advice office paralegals are reluctant to do labour work because they say this is trade union work. And trade unions also sometimes say paralegals in advice offices must not take over their work because this weakens the union. But in certain situations the paralegal might be in a better position to help workers with problems. Advice office workers need to consult with the union regularly to work these problems out. It is important to work out with the union what is best for the worker who has the problem.

Advice offices can help individual cases. They cannot usually help with collective problems affecting many workers. If there is a problem which involves many workers, then the union will be in a better position to help.

See Paralegals and advice offices

How can we solve these problems?

The work that advice office paralegals do in the labour field, their responsibilities towards workers, unions and other advice structures in the area must be clearly worked out. The relationship will be different in different areas.

Trade unionists and advice office workers need to organise workshops on the role of advice workers. And there should be ongoing training from time to time for paralegals on labour issues. Advice office paralegals and paralegals in community organisations can ask unions to consult with them and advise them on how they can help in the best way.