Abstract

Keywords

Public service; collective bargaining; Public Service Coordinating Bargaining Council (PSCBC); Department of Public Service and Administration (DPSA); trade unions; resolution/agreement; National Treasury; strike; labour relations; Labour Relations Act (LRA); federation; tripartite alliance; wage.

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1 Introduction

Section 23 of the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa, 1996 (hereafter the Constitution), titled "labour relations", entrenches a group of guaranteed labour rights in South Africa. 1

* Matthews Eddie Nkuna-Mavutane. B Mil (HOD) BPA (Hons) LLB MPA LLM. Former Lecturer in Public and Mercantile Law, Stellenbosch University, South Africa. Email: 36060941@mylife.unisa.ac.za. ORCiD: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1710-3159.

** Brigitte Barends. Public Management Public Man Hons MA Public Man. Lecturer in Public and Development Management, Stellenbosch University, South Africa. Email: brm@sun.ac.za. ORCiD: https://orcid.org/0009-0006-5572-5043.

*** Vukile Ezrom Sibiya. LLB LLM Lecturer in Public and Mercantile Law, Stellenbosch University, South Africa. Email: sibiya@sun.ac.za. ORCiD: https://orcid.org/0009-0004-8012-7411

**** Clarence Itumeleng Tshoose. LLB, LLM (NWU); LLD (Unisa). Professor, Department of Mercantile and Labour Law, School of Law, University of Limpopo, Polokwane, South Africa. Email: Itumeleng.tshoose@ul.ac.za. ORCiD: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1663-0301.

***** Reuben Letseku. B.Juris, LLB (UN) LLM in Labour Law (Georgetown University) Certificate in Human Rights (UJ) Certificate in Arbitration George Meany Centre for Labour Studies. Senior Lecturer, Department of Mercantile and Labour Law, School of Law, University of Limpopo, Polokwane, South Africa. Email: letsekuattorneys@gmail.com. ORCiD: https://orcid.org/0009-0009-5312-3251.

1 Note that these rights must be understood in the context of other rights (or the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa, 1996 as a whole). This is termed "systematic interpretation"; see Botha Statutory Interpretation 209. Also see Finnemore, Koekemoer and Joubert Labour Relations 186; Garbers, Le Roux and Strydom Labour Law 455. They contend that these rights must be understood with the right to freedom of association in s 18 of the Constitution. These rights are further protected by ss 4-10 of the Labour Relations Act 66 of 1995 (hereafter the LRA).

Collective bargaining can be described as "a process of negotiations between an [e]mployer and a group of employees (often represented by a [t]rade [u]nion) so as to determine the conditions of employment". 5

5 The Public Service Coordinating Bargaining Council's (hereafter PSCBC) information brochure can be accessed at PSCBC 2017 https://pscbc.org.za/index.php/sample-page/pscbc-information-brochure. This description is materially similar to that contained in item 4(1) in GNR 1396 in GG 42121 of 19 December 2018. It describes collective bargaining as a "voluntary process in which organised labour in the form of trade unions and employers or employers' organisations negotiate collective agreements with each other to

Code of Good Practice: Collective Bargaining defines collective bargaining as: "a voluntary process in which organised labour in the form of trade unions and employers or employers' organisations negotiate collective agreements with each other to determine wages, terms and conditions of employment or other matters of mutual interest". 6

6 GNR 1396 in GG 42121 of 19 December 2018.

The engagement in collective bargaining is recognised as one of the rights encompassed under the umbrella of the rights related to labour relations. 7

7 McGregor et al Labour Rules 192-199.

Collective bargaining is a tool for both parties that they can use to achieve any of the following objectives:

Over and above the stated objectives, it needs to be emphasised that the aim of collective bargaining is to reach an "equitable settlement on matters of mutual interest" by negotiating such issues. In the public service bargaining is ordinarily sealed with a collective agreement/resolution. 12

12 Finnemore, Koekemoer and Joubert Labour Relations 233; Garbers, Le Roux and Strydom Labour Law 426; Van Niekerk et al Law@Work 432. Also see PSCBC 2017 https://pscbc.org.za/index.php/sample-page/pscbc-information-brochure. Section 213 of the LRA defines a collective agreement as "a written agreement concerning terms and conditions of employment or any other matter of mutual interest concluded by one or more registered trade unions, on the one hand and, on the other hand-(a) one or more employers; (b) one or more registered employers' organisations; or (c) one or more employers and one or more registered employers' organisations; 'council' includes a bargaining council and a statutory council".

In the year 2018 such an agreement was reached between the employer and employee representatives, namely PSCBC Resolution 1 of 2018 (hereafter the wage 13

13 Note that the term is loosely used. It should not be assigned its ordinary meaning.

The agreement was not fully honoured by the employer, which disproved the notion that once ratified, an agreement is binding on all. This led to two court challenges, both of which favoured the employer. 16

16 Public Servants Association v Minister of Public Service and Administration [2021] 3 BLLR 255 (LAC) (hereafter PSA v DPSA). Note that the matter ended up in the Constitutional Court; see National Education Health and Allied Workers Union v Minister of Public Service and Administration 2022 6 BCLR 673 (CC) (hereafter NEHAWU v DPSA).

the future of bargaining between labour (public servants on salary level 1 to 12) and the employer (the Department of Public Service and Administration, hereafter the DPSA)? 17

17 This is in part motivated by the acknowledgement by the Labour Appeal Court (LAC) that if a decision (its decision) is made and it affects a multitude (all public servants), the adjudicator (LAC) is not well suited to predict the "repercussions" of his or her "interventions". See PSA v DPSA para 1.

To answer this question, the authors consider the following: the mandate of the PSCBC, actors in the PSCBC machinery, the collective agreement that caused the dispute (actions of the employer during the last leg of the agreement), the Labour Appeal Court (hereafter the LAC) judgment, eventualities of the LAC judgment, and what is likely to follow next.

In view of the LAC and Constitutional Court judgments, the primary aim of this case note is to inquire into the recent intricate challenges that have beset the system of collective bargaining in the public service in South Africa. The case note examines not only the constitutional and statutory context of collective bargaining but also the contours of collective bargaining as exemplified in seminal labour law cases of recent vintage.

2 The mandate of the Public Service Coordinating Bargaining Council (PSCBC)

As the PSBC is the entity which facilitated the wage agreement it is essential that its role be elaborated on. It is an independent institution created by the LRA. 18

18 See ss 35-37 of the LRA. Also see Finnemore, Koekemoer and Joubert Labour Relations 233 and Van Niekerk et al Law@Work 430-431; these authors contend that an institution such as the PSCBC can be formed by agreement or by legislation. They further note that such institutions can be permanent or interim (ad hoc).

Figure 1: Composition of the PSCBC

The core of its existence is to "maintain good labour relations in the Public Service". 19

19 Finnemore, Koekemoer and Joubert Labour Relations 198. Also see PSCBC 2017 https://pscbc.org.za/index.php/sample-page/pscbc-information-brochure.

3 Actors in the PSCBC machinery

The main actors are labour and employers. 21

21 The term "employers" is preferred in this submission. Other equivalent terms include government and/or the state. For an explanation of these two distinct terms, see

represented by others. The employer is represented by the DPSA. Labour is represented by recognised trade unions that have a membership or combined membership of 50 000 or more (see Table 1 for recognised unions that meet the threshold). Table 1 further shows how the parties that represent labour have voted on approved wage agreements between 2015 and 2023. It also shows how much voting power each of these actors has.

Among their labour-related rights, trade unions also have the option of joining a federation. Most of the parties in this machinery are affiliated with the Congress of South African Trade Unions (hereafter COSATU). 22

22 Congress of South African Trade Unions date unknown http://mediadon.co.za/unions-contact/.

As already indicated in paragraph 2, the PSCBC engages in matters between labour and the employer. It provides the space for labour and employees to meet and serves as a mediator or arbitrator in a matter referred to it by either labour or the DPSA. 24

24 This is in line with Art 3 of Convention 154.

Table 1: Unions recognised by the PSCBC

4 The collective agreement that caused the dispute (actions of the employer during the last leg of the agreement)

On 8 June 2018 most of the trade unions 27

27 It can be assumed that all trade unions that signed the agreement did so in good faith, with the understanding that once it reached the required majority, it would be honoured by all parties concerned (including unions that did not ratify it). Note that the Constitutional Court found that the employer also acted in good faith when she requested that the negotiation for the last leg of the 2018 agreement be reopened; see NEHAWU v DPSA para 106. When one considers that in 2022 the employer unilaterally increased the salaries of public sector employees and that had it wanted to (unilaterally) increase public servants' salaries in 2020 it would have done so, one wonders if indeed the employer acted in good faith as stated by the court.

The dispute was set for conciliation, which failed to yield any positive outcome. As a result, the dispute was eventually set for arbitration. Prior to the arbitration being finalised, the PSA set an application for the enforcement of the resolution at the Labour Court. 30

30 See NEHAWU v DPSA paras 22-23.

Table 2: The essence of PSCBC Resolution 1 of 2018

5 The Labour Appeal Court (LAC) judgment

As previously indicated, prior to the arbitration of the dispute between labour and the employer, the PSA took the employer to the Labour Court. 33

33 See PSA v DPSA para 10.

The matter was decided in favour of the employer. 36

36 See PSA v DPSA paras 49-51.

It is declared that the enforcement of clause 3.3 of Resolution 1 of 2018 (the Resolution) is unlawful for contravention of ss 213 and 215 of the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa, 1996 and Regulations 78 and 79 of the Public Service Regulations, 2016. 37

37 PSA v DPSA para 51. Essentially, all of the provisions mentioned required the DPSA to obtain a mandate from National Treasury. The DPSA did not have the express consent to bind the employer to the last year of the resolution. Note that this conclusion was subsequently confirmed by the Constitutional Court in NEHAWU v DPSA. This conclusion can also be understood using one of the "[c]ornerstone[s] of contract", which is expressed as privity of contract. In explaining this term, Hutchison and Pretorius Law of Contract 22 describe the term as "the idea that a contract creates rights and duties only for the parties to the agreement, and not for third persons". The 2018 resolution sought to bind National Treasury (a third party) without its express consent.

6 Eventualities of the LAC judgment

In arriving at a determination, the LAC understood that its decision might have unintended consequences. 38

38 See PSA v DPSA para 1.

6.1 The 2021 wage agreement and the appeal of the LAC judgment

In July 2021 a new wage agreement was reached, namely PSCBC Resolution 1 of 2021. The argument can be made that the agreement was made in the hope that the Constitutional Court would rule in favour of labour and that, as such, this resolution was a transitional measure while a bigger outcome was awaited. 39

39 The agreement had reached resolution status by 26 July 2022. The Constitutional Court heard an appeal from the LAC judgment on 24 August 2021 and delivered its unanimous judgement on 28 February 2022.

As opposed to many other previous agreements it was distinguished by the following:

In August 2021 the Constitutional Court finally heard the appeal against the LAC judgment and the judgment was handed down at the end of February 2022. As previously stated, it did not go as labour had anticipated. The following things stand out about this matter at the Constitutional Court:

6.2 The proposed 2022 wage agreement

With this short-term solution (see paragraph 6.1) having been reached, and the Constitutional Court having ruled against labour, the parties went back to the drawing board. They failed to reach an agreement and the offer that was tabled by the employer failed to be ratified by the majority of unions within 21 days. As such, it collapsed. 47

47 South African Government 2022 https://www.gov.za/speeches/update-202223-public-service-wage-negotiations-9-nov-2022-0000.

By November 2022 the following had occurred:

These actions set the tone for what was to occur next: NEHAWU became the game-changer.

6.3 National Education, Health and Allied Workers' Union (NEHAWU) as the game-changer

After the unilateral decision was taken to increase public servants' salaries by 3%, attempts were made to conclude a new wage agreement for the financial years 2023/2024, 2024/2025, and 2025/2026 (a three-year deal). For the

financial year 2023/2024, the employer proposed a 4.7% 54

54 An explanation given by the employer is that the current cash gratuity on average amounts to 4.2%, and, as such, the employer was merely adding an increase of 0.5%. This increase was supposed to be pensionable. As a result, this was not going to translate into more money in the pockets of employees. It was only going to benefit them upon retirement, as both the employer and employee were going to be forced to contribute to the GEPF.

The fact that the government failed to react positively to various union actions, as elaborated on in paragraph 6.2, the 3% unilateral wage increase, and the government’s unwillingness to negotiate openly (as opposed to making a take-it-or-leave-it offer) persuaded NEHAWU to embark on a strike. On 23 February 2023, a day after the budget speech by the Minister of Finance, NEHAWU notified the DPSA of its intention to go on strike ("strike action, picket, or any other form of industrial action") on 6 March 2023. 56

56 At the heart of the of the bone of contention by NEHAWU were the following three issues: the employer's refusal to agree to a 10% salary increase; the demand of a housing allowance of R2 500 (per month) and for dismissed employees to be paid out their contribution to the Government Employees Housing Scheme; and for pay progression (1.5% salary increase linked to performance assessment) to be payable to people on the top notch of each salary level. Note that the 2021 wage agreement made provision for such an increase. Further note that the current housing allowance is R1 500.07 and it is increased annually on the basis of the average CPI announced by Statistics South Africa for a financial year; see DPSA 2022a https://www.dpsa.gov.za/ dpsa2g/documents/cos/2022/17_3_p_4_10_2022.pdf.

The DPSA went to court to interdict the action. In arguing for the interdict, the DPSA contended that there was a prolonged delay between the granting of a certificate by the Commissioner of the PSCBC and the actual strike (November to February). 57

57 DPSA v NEHAWU para 5.

NEHAWU opposed the DPSA's application. It relied on the following three issues: non-joinder, alleged non-compliance with the provisions of section 68(2) of the LRA, 60

60 Section 68(2) of the LRA provides: "The Labour Court may not grant any order in terms of subsection (1)(a) unless 48 hours' notice of the application has been given on the respondent: However, the Court may permit a shorter period of notice if-

(a) the applicant has given written notice to the respondent of the applicant's intention to apply for the granting of an order;

(b) the respondent has been given a reasonable opportunity to be heard before a decision concerning the application is taken; and

(c) the applicant has shown good cause why a period shorter than 48 hours should be permitted".

In relation to the alleged non-compliance with the provisions of section 68(2) of the LRA, NEHAWU contended that the DPSA had failed to give it 48 hours' notice. The court took into account that the DPSA had failed to comply with the requirement by only three hours. The court interpreted the clause purposively and took into consideration that NEHAWU had not suffered any notable prejudice because of the substantial compliance of the DPSA with section 68(2) of the LRA. It further noted that the matter had been set down for 3 March 2023 but was only heard on 4 March 2023 (by agreement between the parties). This gave sufficient opportunity to NEHAWU to supplement its replying affidavit. As such, the substantial compliance by the DPSA was held to be sufficient. 65

65 DPSA v NEHAWU paras 5-25.

The last ground for opposing the application was a lack of urgency. 66

66 DPSA v NEHAWU paras 12-17.

replying to this the court detailed the timeline since the issuing of the notice to strike and the various pieces of correspondence between the parties. It showed that NEHAWU had the opportunity to fix the noted defect and chose not to. As such, the DPSA only had access to court as its last resort. The court held that in the absence of its hearing the matter, the DPSA was likely to suffer prejudice or material harm. 67

67 DPSA v NEHAWU paras 18-23.

On 4 March 2023 an interdict was issued by the Labour Court, and the reasons for its being granted were issued on 6 March 2023. 68

68 DPSA v NEHAWU para 1.

After the court battles the NEHAWU strike was eventually called off. This was as a result of a settlement between labour and the employer. This created hope that there was still room for collective bargaining and preventing the employer from

acting unilaterally. 71

71 One can argue that the strike did serve its purpose, compelling the employer to bargain and move from its original position.

6.4 The 2023 wage agreement

A two-year wage agreement was reached on the eve of the 2023/2024 financial year, namely PSCBC Resolution 2 of 2023. In a way, the conclusion of this agreement can be attributed to the efforts of NEHAWU, even though it did not ratify it.

The positives that can be taken from this agreement include the fact that the employer moved away from its initial salary increase offer of 0.5% and desisted from taking further unilateral actions on matters that had traditionally been resolved through collective bargaining. Further conclusions from this agreement include the following:

Table 3: The essence of PSCBC Resolution 2 of 2023

7 What is likely to follow next?

The partial non-fulfilment of the 2018 resolution broke the trust between labour and the employer (trust deficit). On the issue of trust deficit, Grawitzky poignantly remarked that:

Lack of capacity, basic negotiating skills, trust between partners, the power of negotiators to influence and educate their own constituencies, turnover of the [t]he bargaining environment has begun to look more adversarial not only because of the

quality of bargaining, across both private and public sector, but the lack of trust which exists between the parties with no real dialogue happening on the shopfloor between line management and employees on how to influence business outcomes. 75

75 Grawitzky 2011 https://www.ilo.org/wcmsp5/groups/public/---ed_dialogue/---dialogue/documents/publication/wcms_175009.pdf.

This trajectory is likely to be a major obstacle in the future negotiation pattern. As already seen, labour is unwilling to enter into any long-term agreement with the employer; they ratified only a single and a two-year agreement with numbers that do not inspire confidence or bring about a sense of labour peace. 76

76 Note that both agreements were ratified by the same parties (see Table 2). They enjoy a 53.9% majority. The glue in the agreement is the ratification between SADTU and the PSA; or, put differently, the relationship between SADTU- and FEDUSA-affiliated unions (see Table 1 for a distribution of their power). Should either party not sign in the near future and most COSATU affiliates continue not being interested in agreements that are perceived as anti-labour, there will be no agreement and the prospects of a strike will increase.

Since 2018 there have been only two wage agreements which were not in line with the standard three-year agreement. Both these agreements focused merely on the take-home wages and salaries of the public servants. These resolutions included a clause to address the shortcoming identified in PSA v DPSA (lack of financial approval from National Treasury) and were signed for the employer by the Director General of DPSA. This clause will most likely feature in all future wage agreements to ensure that the employer is never again in a position to claim that there was no financial approval and that as a result the sealed agreements are null and void. Furthermore, the usage of the Director General of DPSA as a signatory is likely to continue in an effort to repair the trust deficit.

As a result of this deficit in trust the PSCBC is now reduced to an entity that yields only short-term results (one- or two-year agreements). 77

77 See Finnemore, Koekemoer and Joubert Labour Relations 233, who contend that the success of any bargaining institution depends on its acceptability by the clients. After the breakdown of the 2018 resolution, the usage of the courts to settle the enforceability of the resolution, and the absence of a long-term agreement, one can infer that the acceptability of the PSCBC as an entity to resolve bargaining issues has degraded.

This state of affairs has shown that labour is dynamic and, as such, it presents fertile enough grounds for intra-labour rivalry. 78

78 Gyesie Exploring the Impact of Collective Bargaining 44.

dependent to some extent on the following two aspects: the current state of the "tripartite alliance" 80

80 This denotes a relationship between the ruling party (ANC), the SACP and COSATU.

It has always been known that the African National Congress (ANC) is the lead member in the tripartite alliance. The other two parties can therefore merely lobby and be given certain positions in the government. 82

82 There are others who are of the view that when such people occupy such positions it is labour that suffers the most, since office bearers' loyalty will shift from those they represent to either the self or the ruling party (or sometimes both).

This makes it possible that a salary increase below CPI may still be reached in the near future (beyond the 2024/2025 financial year). 85

85 In line with the recent wage agreement this is already a possibility. See Table 3.

In response to the demand for wage increments above the CPI, the employer is most likely to stick to its plan of reducing the cost of compensating employees (hereafter COE). The non-fulfilment of the 2018 resolution was one of the measures it took. In addition, it also reduced the COE in relation to performance

bonuses. 87

87 In the financial year 2018/2019, state departments were told to budget only 1.5% for the COE budget; in the financial year 2019/2020, this was reduced to 0.75%; in the financial year 2020/2021, it was reduced to 0.5%; in the financial year 2021/2022, it was reduced to 0%; and in the financial year 2022/2023 and beyond, it was stated that it will be "determined based on the Comprehensive Review of ALL PMDSs [Performance Management and Development Systems] for ALL categories of Employees". See DPSA 2019a https://www.dpsa.gov.za/dpsa2g/documents/ rp/2019/18_1_p_30_01_2019.pdf.

Mahmood and Banerjee acknowledge that "the status of collective bargaining has been debated, if not doubted, in recent times, with the weakening of the bargaining power of labour vis-a-vis employers, enfeebled workplace solidarity and increasing decentralization of bargaining". 89

89 Mahmood and Banerjee 2023 Economic and Industrial Democracy 965-966.

In the public sector this may include the following: medical subsidies, housing subsidies, leave, danger allowances, et cetera. With the 2018 wage agreement having come to an abrupt end, all ancillary matters are most likely to continue being stagnant. This view excludes issues that have their own standing agreement (resolutions). It is submitted that there are ‘low- hanging fruit/[issues]’ that ought to be addressed in order to improve collective agreement relating to wages in the public service. For example, matters relating to medical subsidies, cost of living, housing subsidy must be integral part of salary negotiations. Furthermore, engaging labour on these matters has the potential of resuscitating the smooth resolution of disputes in the public service. In this context Recommendation No. 163 provide practical guidance for promoting collective bargaining. For example, Recommendation No.163 encourages, among others, that both parties have access to the information required for meaningful negotiations; parties must agree on procedures for the settlement of labour disputes and find a solution to the dispute themselves. 91

91 Collective Bargaining Recommendation No. 163 of 1981.

One of the mechanisms used to deal with a dispute arising from collective bargaining is a strike or lockout. NEHAWU has proved that this is a possible action in the absence of an agreement. It has shown that the employer is most likely to be coerced into an agreement if employees embark on an industrial action that affects services such as health.

A strike by workers in the current conditions seems unlikely, but when one considers what occurred in 1999, one cannot completely rule it out. If trade unions (especially COSATU-affiliated unions) could reach an agreement on it, it might be a reality. It was largely they who carried out the 1999 strike. 92

92 See Amoako 2012 Labour, Capital and Society 85-86. Note that the strike was associated with the unilateral salary increase by the DPSA in 1999; see Staff Reporter 1999 https://mg.co.za/article/1999-08-17-nehawu-rejects-implementation/.

Figure 2: What is likely to follow the eventualities of the LAC judgement?

8 Conclusion

This case note has sought to determine the future of collective bargaining after the LAC's PSA v DPSA judgment. In considering this dilemma the authors have looked at the following: the legal status of collective bargaining, the arena of collective bargaining in the public sector, the primary players in this mechanism, the collective agreement that caused the dispute (the actions of the employer during the last leg of the agreement), the LAC judgment, eventualities of the LAC judgment, and what is likely to follow next.

Major emphasis was placed on collective bargaining. Collective bargaining is an important instrument in the employee-employer relationship. Although not identified as a right by section 23 of the Constitution, case law, or regulation, it has been shown that it can be argued that the engagement in collective bargaining by public servants (through their trade unions) and the employer

(through the DPSA) constitutes a legally recognised practice (a custom). It has further been shown that it is in the best interest of both parties to engage in it.

The arena of public sector bargaining was introduced in terms of the PSCBC. It was noted that the PSCBC is divided into sector-specific bargaining councils (see Figure 2). The actors in this arena were also introduced. It was shown that the PSCBC is a player (an adjudicator) between the DPSA and the trade unions. In relation to the trade unions, it was shown which unions have a right to represent employees' rights and interests at the PSCBC and which federations they belong to (see Table 2).

A collective agreement (PSCBC Resolution 1 of 2018) was facilitated by the PSCBC (see Table 2, which covers the essence of the agreement). The employer failed to give effect to the last leg of the agreement. When the PSCBC was about to arbitrate the matter, the PSA made an application to the Labour Court. The employer counteracted this application with its own declaratory application (seeking to declare the agreement null and void). As opposed to hearing the matters separately, the LAC heard both cases simultaneously. The LAC decided in favour of the employer and declared clause 3.3 of the agreement to be invalid as there had been no approval by National Treasury and the government did not have the financial means to meet the demands of labour.

The LAC judgment created (what some may view as) unintended consequences. The following are key findings in terms of the eventualities of the LAC judgment: as opposed to getting an increase in 2021, public servants received a non-pensionable allowance (cash gratuity) for two financial years; in 2022 the government unilaterally implemented a 3% salary increase; at the beginning of 2023 a strike led by NEHAWU changed the views of the government on collective bargaining (movement from unilateralism to pluralism, which advocates collective bargaining), meaning parties were able to negotiate and this led the government to improve its offering for the 2023/2024 financial year.

With the above context established, one is in a better position to answer the question posed at the beginning of the case note: What is the future of bargaining between labour (public servants on salary level 1 to 12) and the employer (the DPSA)? There is a hope that collective bargaining will continue between labour and employers. One will need to account for the trust deficit between the parties, inter and intra-union rivalry (in labour and the tripartite alliance), the demands of labour for salary increases above the CPI, non-attendance to other matters associated with bargaining, unilateral decision-making by the employer, and little prospect of fully blown industrial action (strikes). As such, when bargaining occurs it will do so under these constraints, and it is most likely to be dominated by the issue of salary increases while ancillary matters take a back seat.

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List of Abbreviations