Labour Relations Act, 1995 (Act No. 66 of 1995) > Schedules > Schedule 7 : Transitional Arrangements > Part E : Disputes and Courts > 21A. Dispute Resolution by Councils before their Accreditation

(1)	Despite the provisions of section 52, a council may attempt to resolve through conciliation—

(a)	any dispute that may be referred to it in terms of this Act before 1 December 1996; and

(b)	if the council has applied for accreditation in terms of section 127 of this Act before 1 December 1996, also any dispute so referred to it after 1 December 1996 but before the governing body of the Commission has made a decision on that application in terms of section 127(5) of this Act.

(2)

For the purposes of subitem (1), any person appointed by a council to perform on its behalf the dispute resolution function referred to in that subitem, will be competent to exercise any of the powers conferred on a commissioner by section 142 of this Act, except the powers contemplated in subsection (1) (c) and (d) of that section. In applying that section for the purposes of this subitem, that section must be read with the changes required by the context, and any reference in that section to the director must be read as a reference to the secretary of the council.

(3)	A council must refer to the Commission, for arbitration, any dispute that—

(a)	was referred to the council in terms of this Act on the authority of subitem (1); and

(b)	remains unresolved after the council has attempted to resolve it through conciliation; and

(c)	is by this Act required to be resolved through arbitration..