Fin24 reports that according to Department of Employment and Labour (DEL) Minister Thulas Nxesi, trade union membership in SA grew from 3.5 million members in 2013/14 to over 4 million in 2020/21.

The number of registered unions rose from 203 to 220 over the same period. Speaking at the Southern Africa Trade Union Coordinating Council (Satucc) congress on Friday, Nxesi said the rise in union membership and the proliferation of several new splinter unions had had the unintended consequence of sparking more adversarial labour relations and a rise in unprotected strikes. Nxesi interpreted the statistics as a growing trend of unions splintering off due to differences in how they believed they ought to negotiate wages with employers. Nxesi said there appeared to be fierce competition for membership among unions, to the point where some used collective bargaining as "recruiting turf", labelling their rivals as "sell-outs" and resorting to damaging strikes to distinguish themselves. The arrival of newer, more militant unions in various sectors also prompted established unions to negotiate more aggressively to take the advantage away from the newcomers. This blunted unity among organised labour, heightening the risk of prolonged, antagonistic wage talks. Nxesi said that he had raised the proliferation of organised labour with unions, suggesting that they find ways to unite all workers, including those in splinter unions. The DEL’s report to Satucc noted an increase in unprotected strikes and warned that this signalled a deterioration in respect for collective bargaining institutions.

• Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Khulekani Magubane at Fin24

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