Teaching is not an essential service so teachers may strike
Sadtu has welcomed the ruling, and said the DA’s submission was an attack on collective bargaining and labour peace
The Essential Services Committee has determined that school managers and support staff are not essential services, effectively upholding their right to strike. However, it has declared a small group of services provided at boarding schools to be so, in order to protect pupils in the event of industrial action. Only boarding house parents, sanatorium services and security at boarding schools have been designated essential services. The Labour Relations Act defines an essential service as one that, if interrupted, would endanger the life, personal safety or health of all or part of the population. Workers deemed to render essential services have a limited right to strike. The act established the Essential Services Committee, which determines which services are essential. It has declared 18 services to be such, including air traffic control, blood transfusion services, firefighters and emergency health services. The committee’s latest decision, handed down on November 5, follows an inv...
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