BL Premium reports that SA is unfazed by whatever conclusion the International Court of Justice (ICJ) may reach on the right to strike, as that right is already guaranteed by the constitution.

This was indicated by Department of Employment & Labour (DEL) spokesperson Teboho Thejane following ICJ public hearings held last Monday to Wednesday at the request of 20 countries and five international organisations for an opinion on whether the right to strike was protected in terms of convention 87 of the International Labour Organisation (ILO). “For SA, the decision doesn’t matter because the right to strike is guaranteed by the constitution,” Thejane advised.

In its oral presentation, the SA delegation made the case that the right to strike was protected under the convention, specifically under article 3, which broadly protected the organisational autonomy of workers’ and employers’ bodies and barred state interference. A favourable advisory opinion would rebuke states and employer groups that have sought to exclude strike rights from the convention. While the convention does not expressly refer to “strike”, it guarantees that workers may freely form and join trade unions to further and defend their interests. DEL Minister Nomakhosazana Meth has pointed out that the “right to strike is not only a cornerstone of our own constitutional democracy, as enshrined in section 23 of our constitution, but it is also a vital component of freedom of association globally”.

• Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Luyolo Mkentane at BusinessLive (subscriber access only)

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