Labour Relations Act, 1995 (Act No. 66 of 1995)Codes of Good PracticeCollective Bargaining, Industrial Action and PicketingPart D : Industrial Action : Strikes and Lockouts19. Ballot of members |
| (1) | The Act does not require the conduct of a ballot as requirement for a protected strike or lockout. Section 67(7) of the Act states quite explicitly that the failure by a registered trade union or registered employer organisation to conduct a ballot may not give rise to any litigation that will affect the legality and the protected status of a strike. |
| (2) | The obligation to ballot flows instead from the constitution of a registered trade union or employers' organisation. The constitutional obligation flows from the requirement in section 95(5)(p) of the Act that a trade union or employers' organisation that seeks registration must provide in its constitution for the conduct of a ballot before the calling of a strike or lockout. That ballot must be a secret ballot. |
| (3) | Registered trade unions and employers' organisations are obliged to comply with their constitutions even though the failure to do so does not have the consequence of invalidating the protected status of the strike or lockout. |