Reducing disproportionate income differentials is one of collective bargaining’s purposes
Labour law is derived from our Constitution, which is dedicated to the achievement of social justice
The extension of a bargaining council’s collective agreement is not unconstitutional. This view was upheld by Judge John Murphy on behalf of a full bench of the North Gauteng (Pretoria) High Court in the 2016 Free Market Foundation (FMF) v Minister of Labour & Others Judgment. The argument that collective agreements adversely affect non-party employers by requiring them to pay higher wages than they would otherwise have done may well be correct, but the question is whether the law can take the same narrow view. Labour law is derived from our Constitution, which is dedicated to the achievement of social justice. Fundamental to this, as Marikana reminded us, is the reduction of inequality. Collective bargaining is a cornerstone of the system and the reduction of disproportionate income differentials is one of its purposes. Add to this the right to strike, which is constitutionally entrenched for the very purpose of allowing workers to exercise economic pressure — in other words, forci...
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