DA submits Private Member's Bill to end strike violence to Speaker of Parliament
14 October 2014
Today, the DA submitted a Private Members' Bill, titled the Labour Relations Amendment Bill 2014, to the Office of the Speaker of the National Assembly, Baleka Mbete.
The Bill will enforce accountability from trade unions whose members unlawfully cause the destruction of property or bring harm to members of the public during strike action.
This Bill, first introduced in October 2010 by the DA, received wide support from the Committee for Private Members Legislative Proposals and Petitions, the so called "Private Members Committee" and was indeed the only Private Members Bill to be accepted by this committee during the fourth Parliament.
Unfortunately, following the ruling of the Constitutional Court in Ambrosini v Speaker of the National Assembly which reformed the process for the introduction of Private Members' Bills, our 2010 version of the Bill was forced to lapse.
Violence seen in strikes such as preceding the massacre at Marikana, which resulted in the senseless death of 44 people, and prolonged protests in various sectors, create tinderbox situations for violent strike related damage to people and property. The recent NUM strike in the metals and engineering sector provides a clear example. The DA is therefore taking active steps to prevent and lower the incidence of violence during strikes.
The Bill will:
Require unions to:
Educate workers regarding violence and the prescripts of the law before their members go out on strike; and
Provide marshals for crowd control purposes and to prevent criminals infiltrating union ranks.
Empower courts to stop a strike that has become excessively violent by forcing the parties into urgent arbitration;
Empower courts to declare a strike that has become excessively violent as a de facto unprotected strike; and
Empower courts to award damages judgements against unions that have not implemented measures for the limitation of violence as required by the Bill.
The DA is steadfast in our belief that nothing must compromise the protection and lawful exercise of workers' Constitutional rights. This must, however, also be balanced with acting in the best interests of all people, and ensure that the right to strike is coupled with a duty to ensure the safety of all South Africans.
With this Private Members Bill designed to protect all South African people from destruction of private property, from intimidation of business owners, intimidation of fellow workers and of members of the public, the ANC in Parliament must do the right thing and support this Bill as they did in the Private Members Committee in 2011.
The ANC should resist all attempts to succumb to pressure from its alliance partners and must support this Bill to create a safer state of labour relations in the interest of all South African people, rather than to bow to connected union bosses who would prefer to avoid accountability.
As required by Rules 241(1)(b) and (c) of the National Assembly, the DA has given notice of its intention to introduce the Labour Relations Amendment Bill of 2014 in the National Assembly, and has submitted a full draft of the Bill and covering Memorandum to the Speaker to be publicized in the Government Gazette for public comment.
The DA sees this moment as the key opportunity for Parliament to ensure that workers and citizens are protected from any future strike violence.
Statement issued by Ian Ollis MP, DA Shadow Minister of Labour, October 14 2014
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