Unions appeal industrial court ruling

When delivering his judgement on Friday, Justice Tebogo Maruping said the considered opinion of the court is that the strike as it relates to the essential service is unlawful and unprotected because it was in breach of the provisions of Section 42(1)(b)(iii) of the Trade Dispute Act (TDA) as read with Section 9(1)(b) in that on failure to reach an agreement at mediation the Commissioner of Labour lumped together all the employees and did not take account of the special provisions relating to essential service employees.

The unions are seeking the Court of Appeal to dismiss the judgement on the basis that the court erred in fact and in law in that they ought to have found that it is permissible in terms of Section 45 of the TDA for the essential service employees to take part in the industrial action.