Labour Relations Management

Strikes and lockouts: LRA 66 of 1995 | Right to strike and recourse to lockout | A strike or a lock out is prohibited when:1. a collective agreement prohibits it2. issue in dispute must be referred to arbitration or Labour Court3. issue in dispute is arbitration award, collective agreement or Minister award4. a determination in BCEA 75/97 regulates the dispute (only in first year) | Protected and unprotected strikes and lock outs | Substantive and procedural requirements set forthProcedural requirements for protected strikes or lockouts:1. dispute must be referred to a bargaining council, relevant statutory council or to CCMA for conciliation2. cannot be resolved by conciliation then a certificate must be obtained from council or CCMA stating that it remains unresolved3. Or parties should wait for 30 day period from date of the referral of the dispute4. union(s) must give at least 48 hours’ notice of the intended strike to employer5. in the case of proposed lockout: a written notice to union, employees or relevant council should be given at least hours before the announcement of the lockout6. If state is the employer, a notice period of seven days is required for a intended strike or lockout-- a failure of a union to follow its own procedures towards a strike does not affect the legality of the strike.Situations where the above requirements do not apply:●parties are members of a council which has dealt with the issue in accordance to that council●strike/lockout conforms to procedures in a collective agreement (free to agree to their own procedure)●employees strike in response to an unprocedural lockout by the employer●employer lockout in response to a unprocedural strike ●the employer refuses to accede to a request of its employees or trade union to atop a unilateral change to their conditions of employment or restore the original ones, if the unilateral changes to the employment conditions have already been implemented | Consequences of protected strikes and