Labour Appeal Court Judgment clarifies important collective bargaining issue

6th May 2015

Labour Appeal Court Judgment clarifies important collective bargaining issue

The Labour Appeal Court on 5 May 2015 delivered a Judgment which has important implications for collective bargaining and the role of strikes and lock-outs. 

The Judgment deals with what had been a very controversial issue in regard to whether a lock-out and strike should be treated alike and whether an employer can exclude all employees from its workplace, whether striking or non-striking, who do not accept the employer’s demand when it decides to institute a lock-out.

In Putco (Pty) Ltd v Transport & Allied Workers Union of South African & Others the Labour Appeal Court recognised that an employer’s entitlement to lock-out its employees is not limited to striking employees only.  An employer may accordingly lock-out all employees in the bargaining unit in a lawful industry level strike. The court held that this is permitted because it promotes collective bargaining at sectoral level in line with the majoritarian principle which is at the heart of the collective bargaining dispensation. 

The Labour Appeal Court further recognised that as strikes against non-party employers in the context of a bargaining council dispute are permitted there is no reason why employers should not also be able to lock-out non-striking employees.