Today's Labour News

GroundUp reports that the Simunye Workers Forum (SWF) has won a major legal victory, with the Johannesburg Labour Court ruling that it can register as a trade union.

The SWF has about 6,600 members, mainly casual workers, and the ruling by Judge Andre Van Niekerk means it can now formally represent its members in disputes, in wage negotiations and in matters before the CCMA. The forum went to court after the Registrar of Labour Relations refused to register it as a union. It was formed in 2015 and had its roots in the Casual Workers Advice Office (CWAO), a non-profit registered independent community advice office. At the end of 2020 the forum decided to apply for registration in terms of the Labour Relations Act (LRA). To that end, the forum adopted a constitution, opened a bank account and held an annual general meeting. Membership fees were fixed at R12.50 a month or R150 annually. In June 2022, its application to the Registrar was refused. Labour Court Judge Andre van Niekerk noted that the Registrar had refused to register the forum because its constitution allegedly did not meet the requirements of the LRA and the Registrar did not consider it to be a “genuine trade union” independent of the CWAO. But, he pointed out that nowhere in the LRA were trade unions barred from obtaining services from community advice offices or working in collaboration with them. The Registrar’s decision in this respect was “simply wrong”, the judge ruled. He noted that the labour market had changed since the LRA was passed and new forms of worker organisations “will inevitably emerge”. While the SWF’s structure was unique, that was not, in itself, a basis to reject the application. The judge ordered the Registrar to register the forum as a trade union within 14 days.

• Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Tania Broughton at GroundUp

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