The Labour Relations Amendment Act, 2018 was amended in November 2018 to include provision to:
- Increase the period the Minister has to extend a collective agreement to non-parties from 60 to 90 days and the agreement shall only be extended if parties are sufficiently represented within the scope of the council;
- Provide criteria for the Minister before the Minister is compelled to extend the collective agreement;
- Provide for the renewal and extension of funding agreements;
- Provide for picketing by collective agreement or by determination by the Commission in terms of picketing regulations;
- Provide for the classification of a ratified or determined minimum service, where minimum service refers to the minimum number of employees in a specific essential service who may not strike;
- Extend the meaning of ballot to include any voting by members that is recorded in secret with regard to registered trade unions and employer’s organisations;
- Make way for the establishment of an advisory arbitration panel to deal with long and violent strike action in the interest of labour stability.
It will be interesting to see whether the amendments will improve the position of smaller businesses. In the past many unrepresented businesses have been forced to apply collective bargaining arrangements which have at times entrenched the positions of larger businesses better able to afford the collective conditions.