The Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU) notes Cabinet’s approval for public comment of the draft Labour Relations and Labour Laws Amendment Bills. These are the product of extensive and often heated negotiations at Nedlac between government, business and labour.
COSATU was deeply angered by the initial proposals tabled at Nedlac by the Department of Employment and Labour in 2022 which would have gutted our progressive labour laws that took COSATU and workers decades of struggles to win. We are pleased that after often very difficult and hard-fought negotiations, COSATU was able to block proposals that would have fundamentally set workers’ rights back. The proposed amendments COSATU secured will strengthen labour rights and further extend protections to millions of vulnerable workers.
Nedlac met for nearly three years where social partners tabled proposed amendments to the Labour Relations, Basic Conditions of Employment and National Minimum Wage Acts. The nation’s most progressive and experienced labour lawyers, including the authors of the Acts, were enlisted to provide technical and drafting expertise. Labour submitted extensive proposals, many of which were agreed to. The Department of Employment and Labour and Business submitted their proposals, many of which were deeply offensive to Labour, and which we managed to subsequently block through intense and robust negotiations.
Whilst COSATU did not achieve all it had sought at Nedlac, we are confident that we have ensured workers’ rights remain secure and won many critical gains advancing workers’ protections.
COSATU successfully defeated proposals to weaken labour rights including proposals to:
- Reduce the National Minimum Wage to R20 an hour.
- Exempt SMMEs from the majority of labour laws.
- Extend the limit on labour broking to 12 months.
- Remove protections from dismissals for persons under 30 years of age.
- Exempt SMMEs from having to pay retrenchment payments if they had not yet operated for 2 years.
COSATU has secured agreement to extend workers’ rights by:
- Increasing severance pay for workers losing their jobs from one to two weeks per year employed.
- Extending protections for the National Minimum Wage including from any deductions.
- Guaranteeing on-call workers a minimum number of shifts to ensure they can earn sufficient income to take care of themselves.
- Requiring labour inspectors to check compliance with pension fund payments by employers.
- UIF assisting workers in the event of an employer defaulting on monies owed to them.
- Recognising the rights of atypical workers, e.g. Uber drivers and performers, to join trade unions and engage in collective bargaining e.g. artists, musicians and actors.
- BCEA provisions compelling employers to pay their employees’ pension contributions will be strengthened including requiring interest to be paid for late payments to the workers’ funds.
Further negotiations will soon conclude on extending the protection of the UIF and Compensation Fund to atypical workers, e.g. actors and musicians.
Some areas of substantial disagreements remain, including exempting start-ups from collective bargaining council agreements. COSATU is continuing to engage with government on these to ensure that the remaining areas of disagreement are resolved in the interests of workers.
Once the Department has considered public comments, they will then be retabled at Nedlac for final consideration on any further needed amendments. They will then be submitted to Cabinet and Parliament, which will hold further public consultations. COSATU remains confident that the final legislation will continue to protect workers’ rights and that such protections will be further extended.
Issued by COSATU
Matthew Parks (COSATU Parliamentary Coordinator)
Mobile: 082 785 0687
Email: matthew@cosatu.org.za