Rolling back the right to strike: amendments to South Africa’s Labour Relations Act and their implications for working-class struggle

SUMMARY

The South African National Assembly recently passed amendments to the Labour Relations Act which will roll back the right to strike. This briefing will analyse the amendments, their implications and what they tell us about the state of the labour movement, the possibilities for trade union revival and the state working-class struggle in South Africa today.

Disclosure statement

Carin Runciman participated in the Scrap the Labour Bills campaign through her involvement with the Casual Workers Advice Office.

Note on contributor

Carin Runciman is an Associate Professor based at the Centre for Social Change, University of Johannesburg. Her research specialises in working-class politics and mobilisation in the post-apartheid South, with a particular focus on community protest and precarious worker organising. She is also a member of the management committee for the Casual Workers Advice Office, an organisation based in Germiston, Gauteng, dedicated to supporting workers, particularly labour broker workers, to organise.

Notes

1 A protected strike is a strike that complies with the procedures set out in the Labour Relations Act and protects employees from dismissal for participating in a strike, except in cases of misconduct while on strike.