In the first section of the dissertation, strike law in the Netherlands is focused upon. The following issues are inter alia dealt with: the historical background of the strike phenomenon, the right to strike and restrictions on this right, the reluctance of the Dutch legislature to legislate in the field of industrial action, and the directly applicable provisions of the European Social Charter. The second section of the dissertation deals with South African strike law and also starts off with a discussion of the historical background thereof, whereafter the provisions of the 1995 Labour Relations Act are analysed and discussed. The third and last section highlights some of the major differences and points to some similarities between the two legal systems. It concludes that the detailed South African labour legislation does not provide more certainty than the Dutch judge-made law in respect of the law relating to strikes. / Law / LL.M.

A critical and in-depth discussion of the powers of the labour court to review arbitration awards of the Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration, the application of the author's findings relating to common-law, legislation and case law and a critical analysis thereof. Special reference is made to the provisions of sections 145 and 158(1)(g) of the Labour Relations Act 66 of 1995 including, in particular, the alternative application thereof in practice and scope for improvement in order to address potential prejudice to parties occasioned by the compulsory nature of (certain) dispute resolutions. This thesis incorporates a comparative study of the British and German labour law systems with reference to the relevant appeal and/or review procedures (as applied in their tribunals/courts), together with a discussion and application of certain other provisions relevant to South Africa labour law. / Jurisprudence / LL.M

The dissertation examines the process of retrenchment in a public institution with reference to the execution of such a process by the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC). The aim is to establish whether or not the retrenchment was substantively and procedurally fair as required by legislation. Notwithstanding the fact that the staff may have been disadvantaged by the short retrenchment notice (the staff did not have representation prior to the announcement, and the swiftness of the process did not, under the circumstances, provide the staff with enough time to comprehensively apply their mind to the underlying issues), the dissertation finds that the retrenchments had been substantively fair given the fact that the IEC could not retain all staff because of budgetary constraints. The dissertation also finds that the process had been procedurally fair in accordance with section 189 of the Labour Relations Act, 66 of 1995. / Public Adminstration and Development Studies / M.A. (Public Administration)

The researcher used the integration of both qualitative and quantitative approaches. The respondents were drawn from three district, one regional, one academic and two private hospitals. Data was collected by means of questionnaires. The open-ended questions in the questionnaire allowed the respondents to respond in their own words (“etic” description). This enhanced the organisation and reduction of the relevant data for analysis as well as the validity and trustworthiness of the study. The study revealed that even though most of the South African government health policies were very advanced and among the best in the world, some crucial policies appeared to have encountered problems with implementation, from conflicting ideologies and opinions from hospital management, different unions, professional associations, the provincial government, the South African Nursing Council (SANC) and patients. Too many groups appeared to have discussed nurses‟ issues with government and made decisions for nurses, leaving nurses disillusioned. The majority of the respondents attributed this to poor representation at government level. Furthermore, some decisions, resolutions and strategies agreed upon between the unions and bargaining councils appeared to have worked against nurses, further dividing RNs and failing to accomplish the intended purpose. Although most of the respondents had hoped that the Occupational Specific Dispensation (OSD) for nurses would address chronic low salaries for all nurses in the PHS, it favoured certain specialty qualifications (which were based on the description of post-basic courses in R212 and R48, which were not clearly delineated). In addition, RNs were not informed about the meaning and implications of the OSD prior to implementation. The study thus found an information gap between government and RNs at the production level, which appeared not to be with the government and the nurses, but in between. Most importantly, nurses seemed to be represented more by unions to government and bargaining councils, as opposed to nurses, while most of the respondents did not favour the division of nurses between professional associations and unions. Decisions in the PHS appeared to have been dominated by leaders who had no experience with pragmatic issues of health care services (HCS), particularly at the operational level, and the dynamics of the nursing profession. The study therefore concluded that, if the right people (nurses, doctors and systems) were put in place, and nurses were represented by nurses at government level, bargaining councils and parliament, discontent among RNs in the PHS could be reduced significantly. Existing strategies were found to deal with the symptoms and not the root cause of discontent among RNs in the PHS. / Health Studies / D. Litt. et Phil. (Health Studies)

In the first section of the dissertation, strike law in the Netherlands is focused upon. The following issues are inter alia dealt with: the historical background of the strike phenomenon, the right to strike and restrictions on this right, the reluctance of the Dutch legislature to legislate in the field of industrial action, and the directly applicable provisions of the European Social Charter. The second section of the dissertation deals with South African strike law and also starts off with a discussion of the historical background thereof, whereafter the provisions of the 1995 Labour Relations Act are analysed and discussed. The third and last section highlights some of the major differences and points to some similarities between the two legal systems. It concludes that the detailed South African labour legislation does not provide more certainty than the Dutch judge-made law in respect of the law relating to strikes. / Law / LL.M.

South Africa’s labour legislation went through significant changes recently, with the changes to section 198 of the Labour Relations Act 66 of 1995 being the most contentious. The purpose of this research was to explore the perceptions of employees in the HR department of an integrated petroleum and chemical company regarding the changes to labour broking and the potential implications of these changes for an integrated petroleum and chemical company and its employees. The qualitative exploratory study was conducted with six employees of a large integrative petroleum and chemical company making use of labour brokers, until data saturation was reached. The data were collected by means of individual interviews and telephonic interviews. The results indicated that the changes to section 198 will have some positive and negative implications. The positive implications for an organisation included more productive employees and the ability to identify high-quality employees more easily. The positive implications for the company's employees are that the lower-income employees will be protected, the new legislation will provide permanent employment and there will be better dispute resolution procedures. The negative implications to the changes to section 198 for the organisation, include for instance higher costs, the drafting of new policies and guidelines and less employment flexibility. Negative implications for the employees include unemployment, negative attitudes towards the organisation, poor employability and a situation where the current and/or permanent employees have to do all the work. / Business Management / M. Com. (Business Management)

South Africa has been experiencing a number of violent strikes by trade unions in recent times. The issue is not only to hold unions liable for damage caused during strikes, but also to reduce the number of violent strikes. This study investigates if victims of such violence can hold trade unions liable for the violent acts committed by their members during industrial action. The Labour Relations Act, 66 of 1995 (LRA) makes provision for the dismissal of employees who commit misconduct during an unprotected strike. It also provides the remedy of an interdict and a claim for just and equitable compensation which can be made against the union, during an unprotected strike. It is further possible to hold the union together with its members liable for damages in terms of the Regulation of Gatherings Act, 205 of 1993 (RGA). The study argues that a strike or conduct in furtherance of a strike that becomes violent could lose protection and the trade union should consequently be held liable, in terms of the LRA and/ or the RGA, for damages caused by its members. This study investigates the position in Canada, Botswana and Australia to determine if there could be any other basis upon which to hold trade union liable for the conduct of its members. The study recommends that the common law doctrine of vicarious liability should be developed by the courts to allow trade unions to be held liable for damages caused by members during violent industrial action. Policy considerations and changing economic conditions and the nature of strikes in the Republic favours the expansion of the doctrine of vicarious liability to trade union member relationship. / Mercantile Law / LL. D.