Main Agreement to be tested in the ConCourt

 

The metal industry main agreement will go down in history as having created a number of firsts. The first time in thirty years increases are awarded on rands and cents (as opposed to on actuals),
the first time in over ten years the main agreement has been gazetted and extended to all employers and employees in the industry and the first time, the main agreement has stood up to legal scrutiny. Not once, not twice but three times. First, NEASA’s application
to the Labour Court was struck down with costs; second, NEASA’s leave to appeal suffered the same fate and was struck down with cost and thirdly, the Labour Appeal Court arrived at the same conclusion, albeit without costs.

 

NEASA has now taken a decision to petition the Constitutional Court for leave to appeal the Labour Appeal Court judgment and in so doing, NEASA has not minced its words, boldly stating
this fight is far from over and employers should not lose hope. All avenues have not yet been exhausted.”
Indeed, NEASA has not exhausted all legal avenues in desperately seeking redress they firmly but mistakenly, believe is theirs.

One wonders if this is intentional or just coincidental, but it’s beginning to look very much like a
stalingrad strategy” deployed to delay or even avoid any possibility of finding common cause with the exhaustive list of respondents cited in NEASA’s papers. Section 34 of the South African Constitution guarantees
everyone’s right to have any matter that can be resolved by the application of law decided before the courts and given that our courts have shown themselves reluctant to nip such repeated access to the Courts – the question becomes: Given who we are, who we
represent (by far the greater majority of employers and employees in the sector are represented by SEIFSA affiliated member companies), what we do and the current state of our beleaguered sector – is this negative and obstructive process the best way for collective
bargaining partners or adversaries to settle their differences? I think not.

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