This news aggregator site highlights South African labour news from a wide range of internet and print sources. Each posting has a synopsis of the source article, together with a link or reference to the original. Postings cover the range of labour related matters from industrial relations to generalist human resources.
BusinessLive reports that the government does not have to pay out increases to public sector workers, after the Labour Appeal Court (LAC) handed it a huge win by declaring the implementation of a disputed collective agreement unlawful.
Earlier in December, the LAC heard arguments in the matter in which public sector unions sought to have the final leg of the multi-year 2018 wage agreement implemented. The court case arose after the state refused in April 2020 to implement the final year of the agreement as it claimed it did not have the money to do so. In February, the state had penciled in huge cuts to the public sector wage bill. The government also argued that the agreement was unlawful as the state never had the money to implement it, which the LAC has now agreed with. In the judgment, handed down electronically, the court held that there was no valid agreement signed with unions in 2018, as it did not comply with provisions in the constitution, as well as public service regulations. SA Democratic Teachers’ Union (Sadtu) general secretary Mugwena Maluleke, speaking on behalf of public sector unions affiliated to labour federation Cosatu, was quoted in the Financial Mail as saying that he unions were studying the judgment and had already noted constitutional problems in the ruling, which has left members “shocked and angry”.
- Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Claudi Mailovich at BusinessLive
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