Justice of Appeal, John Foxcroft, said, according to the agreement, government undertook not to recognise any other union but BOGOWU, as the negotiating and bargaining agent for and on behalf of government employees. The DPSM, having prior to these proceedings issued to BOGOWU a letter of recognition, met with resistance from the MWU who believe that such recognition is in violation of the 1975 agreement. On March 25, 2010, the High Court made a ruling to the effect that the agreement is neither invalid nor illegal and BOGOWU appealed the matter.
However, in a judgement read last week by Foxcroft, there was no inherent illegality in the clause of the Trade Unions Act of 1969 which provided that "a registered trade union of which at least 25 percent of the employees who fall within the scope of membership of such union shall be the negotiating body with which their employer shall be bound to deal in respect of all matters relating to the relations between the employer and those of his employees who are members of that union". Foxcroft said it however became unenforceable after the promulgation of the Trade Unions and Employers' Organisation Act and the Trade Dispute Act. "This did not mean that a union seeking recognition did not have to meet the percentage requirement," he said. It is important, he said, to note that the National Chairperson of the MWU deposed to the fact that the second was formed following a bitter internal dispute amongst MWU's erstwhile executive members in 2004. Foxcroft revealed that the National Chairperson added that in order to induce
