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Guide to retrenchment law and processes
Understanding retrenchment law is a base upon which worker leaders can build strategies for saving jobs and supporting workers when retrenchments are unavoidable.
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Understanding retrenchment law is a base upon which worker leaders can build strategies for saving jobs and supporting workers when retrenchments are unavoidable.
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Trade unions are not powerless when it comes to influencing the future of work and shaping the reality of work.
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On this Workers’ Day, the Labour Research Service praises elected worker leaders and give a voice to these courageous comrades by sharing their stories of being a worker leader.
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The trade union negotiator’s checklist for dealing with inflation in wage increases.
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The collective bargaining process comprises four main parts: preparation, negotiation, agreement and implementation. Know the steps to follow in each part of the process.
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This report describes wage outcomes in 2021 found in collective agreements collected by the Labour Research Service. The report aims to inform strategy development in trade unions.
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Trade unions can intervene and try to tackle problems in companies before a Section 189 notice is issued.
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A framework for negotiating conditions at work, no matter where the workplace is located, no matter what the status of workers, and no matter how unorganised workers are.
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From retrenchment and unfair dismissal to discrimination and a company that makes unilateral changes to the terms and conditions of employment of workers, which labour laws for which problems?
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A trade union checklist if retrenchments seem unavoidable.
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Some key messages have emerged from our work with the trade union movement in Africa as it seeks to adopt strategies that promote developmental outcomes of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) agreement.
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The process of negotiations forms the central part of collective bargaining. Here are the essential steps to follow.
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Diverse coalitions hold great potential to further collective bargaining in a changing workplace. Learn the strategies for building successful alliances.
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Collective bargaining can promote equity in the workplace and address the entrenched misconceptions about the role of women workers. Here’s how the trade union negotiator should approach the equity bargaining process.
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This month domestic workers earned the national minimum wage after a long struggle for equalisation. “What we now need is enough follow-through,” says Pinky Mashiane, Founder and United Domestic Workers of South Africa. Read more…
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This wage bargaining guide is for negotiators in all kinds of bargaining environments.
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There are certain key steps to take when preparing for wage bargaining. From gathering information to developing positions to take into negotiations, learn how the effective negotiator approaches wage bargaining.
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The difference between recruitment and organising comes down to what a worker is likely to think about, feel and do. Learn more about the differences.
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Trade unions use our company research to improve their strategies for bargaining, alliance building and campaigns. The 2021 Multinational Corporations (MNC) Trends report attempts to make sense of the impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic in twelve key sectors of the economy.
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A step-by-step guide to negotiating for inclusivity and against discrimination in the trade union and the workplace.
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The LRS Negotiator’s Guide provides strategies to inspire, organise and represent workers.
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Our analysis of the revenue, profits and executive pay in JSE-listed companies provides trade unions with information to improve their strategies for bargaining, alliance building and campaigns.
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An effective shop steward can identify key labour laws to support the union’s bargaining and organising activities.
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What you will learn: why unions should be concerned about the AfCFTA; how to identify and advocate for proper labour provisions in trade agreements; and what it will take to create decent work within the AfCFTA.
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Five bargaining benchmarks every trade union negotiator should know. The benchmarks will help you to enter bargaining processes as an informed role player.
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More action is needed to achieve equity, equality, non-discrimination and women empowerment in trade agreements. Here are five trade union demands for mainstreaming gender in the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA).
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The recent crime statistics released by the South African Police Service show Gender-Based Violence (GBV) is devastatingly pervasive. Lindelwe Nxumalo, Women’s Rights Programme Manager at ActionAid, offers some actions for ensuring a successful national response to GBV.
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Nontyatyambo Makapela, Programme Officer at Sister Love International South Africa, reflects on how GBV is a barrier to women’s full participation in the economy and the need for building resilient and sustainable support organisations.
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A just transition involves climate action that provides decent jobs and less hardship for workers and their communities.
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Sexual harassment in the workplace is manifesting in more subtle forms. Know more and protect your rights as a worker.
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When stakeholders act collectively, it is possible to transform the norms, policies and practices that perpetuate gender-based violence in the workplace.
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This report provides trade unions with strategic research that will improve their bargaining with big retail companies. Find simplified financial information on the company. Know how much the CEO earned. Compare profits. Know the impact of Covid-19.
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The African Continental Free Trade Area agreement does not include labour provisions or references to the creation of decent work. Here’s how trade unions can argue for inclusion.
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Effective shop stewards use labour laws as a tool for organising.
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The LRS Multinational Corporations (MNC) database tracks over 80 JSE-listed companies operating in 14 sectors. Find simplified financial information of the company. Monitor profit across the sector. Know how much the CEO was paid.
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A guide for shop stewards on how to solve workers’ complaints and maintain strong workplace unions.
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The impact of the pandemic on employment is worse than expected, says the International Labour Organisation in a new report.
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Learn a step-by-step approach to successful bargaining at the company level. #goingbacktobasics
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Focus on changing male thought patterns that drive gender-based violence and femicide to change violent behaviour towards females.
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The Decent Standard of Living measure offers us a fresh way of looking at the living wage. This measure defines what makes a decent standard of living and it is made of the perceptions of our people. This measure is based on a set of 34 socially perceived necessities for a decent life. If you have these things, you have a decent standard of living.
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Our series of benchmarks will help trade union negotiators to enter into bargaining processes as informed role players.
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The keystone to international solidarity is crafting a concerted response to the power relationship which invariably underlies all acts of solidarity.
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Can worker-owned co-operatives get a grip on the digital economy and contribute to helping our communities end their socio-economic struggles?
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Our range of resources address the key workplace issues for young women workers and are useful for the union that wants to tap into the creativity and energy that empowered young women members can bring to the organisation.
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Unions can benefit from a more conscious approach to managing collective bargaining agreements information.
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Our facilitation exercise will strengthen the ability of workshop participants to understand concepts and have the confidence to bargain with a gender equity lens. Get your copy.
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As South Africa celebrates Women’s Month, Johan Botes of Baker McKenzie explores the findings of a new report highlighting the economic costs of sexual harassment and suggests ways in which the situation could be changed.
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Effective trade unions act at the local, sectoral and global levels. Learn the four elements to value chain mapping.
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As an educator and facilitator in the Gender Equality Programme of Labour Research Service, I am exposed to human trauma often. Here’s my advice on how to be more resilient.
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Despite the state of the economy and the Covid-19 health crisis, unions have managed to negotiate above-inflation wage increases.
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It’s proven that exercises and games activate our senses and increase creative learning of new concepts and understanding of ideas. Our collection of facilitation exercises will help trainers involved in participatory education activities for workers.
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Abuses of the right to strike, the right to establish and join a trade union, the right to trade union activities and civil liberties and the right to free speech and assembly are at an eight-year high, according to the ITUC’s annual Global Rights Index.
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This training manual can be used to support shop stewards in ensuring safety at the workplace during the Covid-19 pandemic and beyond.
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Produced by Workers’ World Media Productions, this booklet is the complete guide to winning strikes. You’ll learn the strike laws and rights, tactics for strike organisers and anticipating the responses of bosses.
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Vasco Mainza, Regional Chairperson of the National Union of Commercial and Industrial Workers says the union is particularly alarmed by the increasing uptake of flexible work in retail.
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INFOGRAPHIC: A quick recap of Shoprite’s finances 2020 and going into 2021.
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The LRS trade union collective bargaining strategy input looks at the minimum wage and settlement trends; the impact of Covid-19 on the economy and collective bargaining; the 2021 bargaining round; and bargaining for the future.
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A study on discrimination at work on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity in South Africa. #PrideMonth
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A shop steward’s guide to finding out who is covered by bargaining council agreements, sectoral determinations and the Basic Conditions of Employment Act.
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Mike Oranga, Assistant Secretary General of the Kenya Union of Commercial, Food and Allied Workers (KUCFAW) says more workers are employed as “flexi-timers” and may struggle to adapt to new technologies.
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Access our collection of facilitation exercises suitable for use by worker organisations involved in participatory education activities.
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Our new wage calculator will tell you how much a percentage increase is an amount of money and help you understand the effect of inflation on the wage increase.
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Can a global framework agreement help a union to organise? For Swaziland Commercial and Allied Workers Union, the answer is a resounding yes.
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Trade union bargaining strategies in South African multinational companies: A review of revenue, profits and directors’ fees in the transport sector.
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How are retail workers in South Africa affected by technological changes? Read our interview with Joyfull Mnguni of the South African Commercial, Catering and Allied Workers Union (SACCAWU), and know the possible trade union responses to these challenges.
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Identifying unfair labour practices – a quick recap of Section 185 of the Labour Relations Act.
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It’s crunch time for trade unions as more workers face retrenchments by companies navigating the impact of the covid-19 pandemic. Here’s a recap of section 189 of the LRA to get you up to speed.
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Our latest Directors’ Fees Report delves into the remuneration of directors in 78 South African Multinational Corporations and confirms what we’ve always known: that there’s an astronomical gap between the pay of bosses and workers.
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Nina Benjamin, LRS Gender Equality Programme Leader, takes stock of her role supporting teacher trade unions in sub-Saharan Africa to create safe schools.
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The possible discriminatory consequences of a mandatory covid-19 vaccination policy at the workplace.
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What do we need to create safe and inclusive trade unions and workplaces free of homophobia? Trade union activists who have consciousness, passion, knowledge and skills to advocate for the rights of workers who are LGBT+.
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The company you’re bargaining with is in a genuine crisis and can’t afford any salary increases. What should be in your counter-proposal?
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Our series of benchmarks will help trade union negotiators to enter into bargaining processes as informed role players.
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“The minimum wage is a victory for ultra-low wage workers. We have an established floor where there was none before, and we can raise that floor and ensure that no worker is left behind,” says Trenton Elsely, Commissioner, National Minimum Wage Commission.
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Some of the key areas trade unions can direct their energy and resources in 2021.
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The covid-19 pandemic fast-tracked some of the predicted changes in the world of work. Learn what the changes may mean for workers in African multinational companies.
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The new minimum wage is R21.69 per hour, an increase of 4.5%. The minimum wage for domestic workers is still below the national wage at R19.09.
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This document draws on the experience of nine education trade unions that want to end school-related gender-based violence in their contexts.
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Some basic principles for unions to follow as they anticipate the impact of the changing nature of work on organising and bargaining.
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The new workplace issues presented by the covid-19 pandemic require shop stewards to be proficient with the guidelines and direction for Occupational Health and Safety (OHS).
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This training manual is for educators in unions to use as a guide for training and supporting shop stewards on staying safe in workplaces during Covid-19 and beyond.
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Business as usual for trade unions went out of the window in 2020. Unions had to alter how they delivered value to their members and recruited new ones.
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This online course designed by the LRS for the Online Learning Academy of International Federation of Workers’ Education Associations (IFWEA) is for activists who want to facilitate gender equality education programmes.
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This one goes out to the trade unionists and anyone else who understands that what few gains the working class have made, they have made through struggle.
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Learn a simple step by step approach to bargaining for gender equity in the workplace.
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Trade unions in South Africa often use strikes to advance and defend the rights of their members. Learn how to plan an effective strike.
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Can trade unions continue to successfully negotiate protections for workers in uncertain times?
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Here’s a collection of my favourite books written by women workers, survivors of gender-based violence, school girls and community activists. The writers’ reflections are powerful and empowering.
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Participants at FEDUSA’s webinar on gender-based violence urged the government to ratify ILO C190 against violence in the world of work.
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A conversation with Nina Benjamin, Leader of Gender Equality Programme at the Labour Research Service
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Bárbara Figueroa, president of Chile’s Central Union of Workers, argues for the need to reflect on and review our practices as a labour movement and as a species.
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“The pandemic made us to explore alternative models of leadership that are not militaristic, patriarchal and undemocratic.” Crecentia Mofokeng, Regional Representative for Africa, Building and Wood Workers’ International
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President of Zimbabwe Chamber of Informal Associations and StreetNet International, Lorraine Ndlovu, on how the covid-19 pandemic affected her activism. “We are rethinking our approach to women’s leadership development.”
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Amazon announced it’d would hire 3000 people in South Africa to work ‘virtually’ in various roles. But what does this mean and why should you care?
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It’s possible to transform the norms, policies and practices that perpetuate gender-based violence in our schools when stakeholders act collectively.
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The impact of new technology on the future of work in the automotive manufacturing industry – a case study of NUMSA’s work at Volkswagen Group, focusing on the role of the union in saving jobs.
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Nurses on the front lines of the health care response to covid-19 pandemic have found themselves in a tricky position, making difficult decisions about their own lives and that of patients.
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Both private and public sector workers continue to bear the brunt of the Covid-19 lockdown, despite eased restrictions and some industries opening.
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Vulnerable workers in South Africa face destitution in the absence of a viable channel for individual applications to the UIF’s covid-19 Temporary Employer/Employee Relief Scheme.
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Public education sector unions signed a collective agreement on the procedures to follow when dealing with teachers who are at a higher risk of complications if they contract Covid-19.