'Workplace' extends company-wide – ConCourt ruling

In a ruling reaffirming the principle of ‘majoritarianism’, the Constituional Court said yesterday the collective agreement between the Chamber of Mines and the majority trade unions in the gold mining sector was also binding on members of the Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union (Amcu)‚ even though Amcu had majority representation at certain individual mines, notes Legalbrief. Ruling on whether a ‘workplace’ in the statutory provision referred to each individual mining operation‚ or all the mining operations of each mining company‚ taken together, the court held that the agreement covered company-wide operations and was validly extended to Amcu members at the five Amcu-majority mines‚ and the relevant statutory provisions were constitutionally compliant. The appeal was dismissed with no order as to costs. A TimesLIVE report says the ruling relates to the decision by the Labour Court on 23 June 2014 to uphold the interim order issued on an urgent basis by the Labour Court in January 2014‚ preventing Amcu from embarking on protected strike action over wages and other conditions of service on the basis that Amcu was bound by the collective agreement reached for the period 1 July 2013 to 30 June 2015. At the time the agreement was reached‚ Amcu represented 17% of employees in the sector. The agreement was extended by AngloGold Ashanti‚ Harmony and Sibanye to Amcu and its members in terms of the Labour Relations Act.