Employees can organise themselves into employee organisations called trade unions. A trade union is controlled, run and paid for by its members. Organised employees in factories elect shop stewards and committees to represent them and report back to them in the workplace. The shop stewards and employees discuss the problems in the workplace and the shop stewards take the employees’ problems to the management.

WHAT ARE THE AIMS OF TRADE UNIONS?

• To negotiate with employers for proper working conditions
  • for decent wages and conditions of work
  • for recognition by the employer of the unions and shop stewards in the workplace
• To protect employees:
  • from unfair dismissal and unfair labour practices
  • from discrimination and abuse
• To educate employees
  • on their rights and how to enforce these rights
  • on how to carry out their tasks in the trade union
• To represent employees
  • to the employers and other authorities
  • to get benefits
• To take legal action when necessary

PAYING UNION SUBSCRIPTIONS

When an employee joins a union, he or she will be asked to pay a subscription fee every month to become a member. These fees are also called ‘subs’. The union uses the ‘subs’ to pay for its expenses such as salaries for union staff, office rental, transport for union staff, etc.

THE RIGHT OF EMPLOYEES TO FORM, JOIN AND TAKE PART IN TRADE UNIONS

The Constitution and the Labour Relations Act say that employees have the right to form and join trade unions. This right is called freedom of association. Employers are not allowed to make it a condition of employment that an employee must or must not belong to a trade union. It is the employee’s choice. An employee also cannot be victimised because he or she is a member of a trade union. This means the employer cannot treat the employee unfairly or badly because the employee is a trade union member.

TRADE UNION RIGHTS IN THE WORKPLACE

A registered union that has less than 50% membership of the workforce but which is sufficiently representative (around 30% of the membership of the workforce as members) can apply for these organisational rights:

• Access to the workplace for union office bearers and officials to hold meetings, etc
• To ballot its members
• To provide stop-order facilities for the deduction of ‘subs’ or trade union subscriptions

This percentage of membership (30%) is commonly regarded as being ‘sufficiently representative’ and entitles the trade union to be granted stop-order facilities.

A registered union that has a majority (more than 50%) of the employees as members at a workplace, can apply for the above rights as well as the following:

• Election of shop stewards/employee representatives
• Disclosure of information/the employer must give the union any information that is relevant for meetings and negotiations
• Time off for a representative to undertake trade union duties or have training

The union applies to the employer for these rights. Within 30 days the employer must meet the union. They make a collective agreement about these rights. The union can ask the CCMA to intervene if the employer refuses. The CCMA will try to mediate and if that fails, will conduct an advisory arbitration. This advisory arbitration award does not have to be complied with by the parties, but the parties should consider the advice of the commissioner. Unions that belong to Bargaining Councils or Statutory Councils automatically have these rights, even if they don’t have many members at the workplace. The CCMA is now required to consider the composition of the workforce, extending its parameters to include Temporary Employment Employees and any other in atypical working conditions.