Bargaining councils
Bargaining councils are the pre-eminent bargaining structures in South Africa’s new labour relations framework. According to section 27 of the LRA, one or more registered trade union and one or more registered employers’ organization may establish a bargaining council for a sector or area in either the public or the private sector.
Section 28 of the Act describes the powers and functions of bargaining councils which include the power to conclude collective agreements, enforce agreements, prevent and resolve labour disputes, conduct education and training, and establish medical aid schemes and provident and pension funds. Bargaining councils are also empowered to “extend services and functions … to workers in the informal sector and home workers”.
Before a bargaining council can be registered, the trade union and employers’ organizations must meet a number of conditions including in the main, being at least “sufficiently representative” of the area and sector in which they operate. Furthermore, section 30(1)(b) of the LRA requires the constitution of every bargaining council to make provision for “the representation of small and medium enterprises”. Where the parties in the bargaining council are representative of the majority of workers and employers in that sector, the council can request the Minister of Labour to extend its collective agreements to non-parties. The Minister then has no discretion and he or she must extend the agreement within 60 days of receiving the request. Moreover, the Minister can also extend agreements to non-parties who fall within the registered scope of the council in cases where the parties (in the council), are only “suffi ciently representative”, and if failure to do so would “undermine collective bargaining at sectoral level or in the public service”.