Learning unit 16: Collective Bargaining and the Law Flashcards
(16 cards)
Who can conclude agency shop agreements?
Only registered representative trade unions.
Representative =** majority of employees as members** of union or majority of employees employed by employers org members in relevant sector and area.
What are ‘free riders’?
Are employees who are **not members **of a union but derive benefits from the work which is done by the union. They don’t pay fees but still obtain benefits from bargaining.
What is a closed shop agreement?
‘A representative trade union and an employer or employers’ organisation may conclude a collective agreement, to be known as a closed shop agreement, requiring all employees covered by the agreement to be members of the trade union’.
What is an agency shop agreement?
‘A representative trade union and an employer or employers’ organisation may conclude a collective agreement, to be known as an agency shop agreement, requiring the employer to deduct an agreed agency fee from the wages of employees identified in the agreement who are not members of the trade union but are eligible for membership thereof’.
Section 25(1) of the LRA
What are agency shop agreements and closed shop agreements?
There are special types of collective agreements known as ‘trade union security arrangements’.
What can bargaining councils do?
May conclude collective agreements for the whole of the sector and area over which a bargaining council has jurisdiction.
These collective agreements can, in certain circumstances, bind all employers, large and small (and their employees) within the sector and area over which the bargaining council has jurisdiction.
What is a bargaining council?
It is established by one or more registered trade unions and one or more registered employers’ organisations for a sector and an area (for example the restaurant industry in the North-West Province).
What happens if a collective agreement doesn’t have a dispute procedure?
It may be referred to the CCMA for conciliation and if it fails, it must be referred to arbitration.
What is the procedure for resolution of disputes concerning collective agreements?
Every collective agreement must contain a dispute resolution procedure regarding interpretation/application.
It must require:
1. Attempt to solve through conciliation
2. If failed, must be resolved through arbitration.
Who are binded to a collective agreement?
- The parties to the agreement;
- A party to the agreement and the members of another party;
- Trade union members and members of employers’ organisations; and
- It may also be extended to employees who are not union members.
S23 LRA
What are the requirements for a valid collective agreement.
- written
- conducted by registered unions
- deal with t’s&c’s or mutual interest matters
Essentially the exact definition of a collective agreement in s213 LRA
Does a collective agreement need to be signed?
No.
What is a collective agreement?
‘a written agreement concerning terms and conditions of employment or any other matter of mutual interest concluded by one or more registered trade unions, on the one hand and, on the other hand-one or more employers; one or more registered employers’ organization or; one or more employers and one or more employers’ organisations’
Section 213 of the LRA
What is collective bargaining?
‘a voluntary process in which organised labour in the form of trade unions and employers or employers’ organisations negotiate collective agreements with each other to determine wages, terms and conditions of employment or **other matters **of mutual interest. The collective bargaining process may be established institutionally, by agreement or in practice.’
Item 4 of The Code of Good Practice: Collective bargaining, industrial action and picketing
Is collective bargaining legally required?
No, it is a voluntary process. But it is highly recommended by the LRA.
Is collective labour law regulated by many pieces of legislation?
No, it is almost solely regulated through the LRA unlike individual labour law.
