File
The South African Federation of Trade Unions said it was “appalled” by the judgment of the Labour Appeal Court which has declared certain clauses of the Public Service Collective Agreement invalid.
This followed an application of several public sector unions challenging the government’s unilateral withdrawal from a signed and legally binding wage agreement.
Saftu said the Labour Court dismissed the application to enforce the final year of a three-year collective wage agreement, concluded between the unions and government in 2018.
The government said it did not have the money to fund the salary increases.
Saftu said the judgment was a direct attack on the right to collective bargaining.
“It represents a wrecking not just of a wage agreement but the very integrity of the collective bargaining system,” said spokesperson Zwelinzima Vavi.
He said the Labour Court judgment was the latest in the series of “anti-labour class” rulings, adding that the “judiciary administers the law in the interests of the ruling class.”
