This presentation, maybe obviously so, will not belabour the legal nuances of collective bargaining. Nor will it delve into how collective bargaining works within the legal framework provided by both legislation and the “contractual” obligations for collective bargaining in labour agreements. To my mind a Government can put in place a multitude of legislative enactments that speak to the rights of workers and the recognition of collective bargaining, but such legalisation and the recognition of collective bargaining are meaningless without the appropriate constitutional protections and the political will to give voice to the intention of such bargaining and legislation.
As reflected in both Botswana Land Boards, Local Authorities and Health Workers Union And Two Others Vs The Director Of Public Service Management And Another CACLB-043-11, and Attorney General v Botswana Landboards and Local Authorities Workers’ Union and others 2013 34 ILJ 1875 the Court of Appeal (CoA) defined the legal framework of strike action and consequently collective bargaining in a narrow restrictive sense.
