No quorum at labour relations amendment bill meeting

Considering that the ANC’s Chief Whip, Stone Sizani, was recently reported in the Sunday Times as saying that the contentious Labour Relations Amendment Bill (LRA) was one of the nine pieces of legislation the ruling party wanted to get passed in Parliament prior to the general elections, it was surprising that the Labour Department’s briefing to the Portfolio Committee on Labour was poorly attended on 12 Tuesday 2012. Despite there not being a quorum and that Chairperson Mr Nchabeleng (ANC) gave his apologies for not being present, the Department went ahead with feeding back the amendments proposed by the Select Committee on Labour and Enterprises on 19 November 2013.

After a protracted two year process of deliberations in Parliament, the LRA Bill was adopted by the National Assembly in Parliament on 20 August 2013 - according to a SAPA report in Engineering News the Bill was passed with 248 votes to 81 after the Democratic Alliance (DA) delayed the plenary vote by walking out - and was subsequently referred back to the National Council of Provinces (NCOP).

Now, the Bill is before the Portfolio Committee on Labour once again and they have the discretion to include the Select Committee’s recommendations or not, before the Bill is sent to the President’s desk to be signed into law.

According to its preamble, the Labour Relations Amendment bill of 2013 aims “To amend the Labour Relations Act, 1995, so as to facilitate the granting of organisational rights to trade unions that are sufficiently representative; to strengthen the status of picketing rules and agreements... to provide for the Labour Court to order that a suitable person be appointed to administer a trade union or employers’ organisation... [and] to provide greater protection for workers placed in temporary employment services...”

The aspect of the Bill that has drawn the most controversy is that of labour broking. While COSATU lobbied the ruling alliance for an all out ban, the Democratic Alliance took the liberal line that they did not want government interfering in business matters. The State Law Advisers and majority of the ANC MPs then drafted a bill that curbs, rather than bans labour brokers. The Bill also provides that a court should not have the power to suspend a lock-out or the use of scab labour.

After the meeting, ANC MP Mr Adrian John Williams, told People’s Assembly, “the bill will ensure that labour broking is stringently regulated. While some brokers are legitimate, there are others, like the bakkie brigades that will just pick up any unemployed person from the street and exploit their rights”.

The one issue that was flagged by the Select Committee on Labour and Public Enterprise previously, that was communicated by the Labour Department to the Portfolio Committee today, 12 February, was the NCOP Members’ concern around two clauses in the Bill that effectively grant the labour court power to stop a picket or protest if it turns violent. The Committee is concerned that this may not be in line with the constitutional provisions around the right to protest.