Employers not only have a right to resort to lock-outs when workers
embark on industrial action, they can also hire replacement labour during
strikes. At the same time, workers in essential and maintenance services
are prohibited from taking strike action and whenever there is a stalemate
between them and their employers, all workers can do is seek conciliation and
arbitration. In addition, there are a range of apartheid-era laws which limit
the way that workers engage in marches and pickets.