Another essential services judgement next week

Court of Appeal Judge President Ian Kirby on Wednesday told a packed courtroom that they were nearly finished with this judgement and would deliver it during the course of next week.Kirby was quick to state that next week's judgement would have nothing to do with the one delivered on Wednesday. On Wednesday, the Court of Appeal dealt the essential services workers a death blow by ruling that their participation in the industrial action in 2011 was unlawful.

The background to the appeal against Dingake's judgement is that on April 18, 2011 government employees belonging to three unions embarked on a strike in support of a pay rise. Some of the employees included Essential Service Employees (ESE). In its heads of argument, the appellant (government) said the employer's predictable response to the declaration of the strike, as being illegal, was to issue an ultimatum (it is this that the respondents sought to avoid through their opposition to the application for an interdict).