M.A. (Human Resource Management) / This investigation was undertaken in order to determine as to whether a connection existed between political occurrences and strikes in South Africa during the period 1910 to 1990. The strike phenomenon was studied within the framework of the ten political phases that occurred from 1910 to 1990. These phases were allotted in terms of the respective white political governments and leaders. Accent was placed on the promulgation of labour laws and specifically, on the protective role thereof towards white workers, but also on the discriminatory effect thereof on black workers ...

M.A. (Industrial Relations) / Since black employees were legally allowed to form unions and organise themselves, unionism has grown tremendously. The occurrence of strikes of some form or other has shown a rising tendency since the implementation of the recommendations of the Wiehahn Commission of Inquiry into Labour Legislation in 1979. As a result, business enterprises have suffered considerable financial losses on account of a loss of man-hours and man-days. The aim of this study is to formulate juridical and practical guidelines for the industrial relations practitioner in order to deal with strikes pro-actively and to prevent them if possible, and to manage them responsibly and professionally if they do occur.

The basic structures of collective bargaining in South Africa have evolved since industrialisation, through the Wiehahn-Commission era until the Farlam one and beyond, resulting in a number of legislative changes from 1924 to 2014. While dealing with collective bargaining, it is not possible to divorce the powerful history of mining from the South African story, from the diamond fields in Kimberley to the discovery of gold on the Witwatersrand in 1886, where the mine employees’ focused on cheap, unskilled labour and migrant system in the 1900s to the tragic events at Marikana in 2012. In the advent of the industry revolution, employment relationships changed as competitive demands placed a great need for advancing economic developments which are often expressed through collective-bargaining. The objective of collective bargaining is to arrive at an agreement between the employer and employees to determine mutually beneficial terms and conditions of employment such agreement may prohibit unions to embark on an industrial action for as long as it is in place. Strikes became important during the Industrial Revolution, when many worked in factories and mines. Often when employees’ demands are not met, they resort to strike action. Strike action is when a number of employees stop rendering their service in protest to express their grievances. These strikes are usually led by labour unions to get better pay, working hours or working conditions during collective bargaining as a last resort. While trade union leadership fails to advance employees’ cause, employees resort to informal alternative structures to negotiate on their behalf. South Africans have a tradition of taking to the streets in protest when unhappy about issues and this tradition did not spring up during the apartheid era but has been around from as early as 1922 to date. Protests in South Africa today draw from past repertoires and at the same time push for new political practices and directions. Strikes are often used to: Pressure governments to change its policies like in the Rand Revolt; Strikes can destabilise the rule of a particular political party like a series of strikes by blacks in the 1970s and 1980s including the 1973 Durban dockworkers and the 1987 miners’ strikes; Strikes are often part of a broader social movement taking the form of a campaign of civil resistance like Treatment Action Campaign and community struggles such Abahlali Base Mjondolo. On the strike issues in South Africa, the researcher draws from the terrible incident that transpired in August 2012 at Lonmin Mine-Marikana and how it has affected the collective bargaining landscape in South Africa. The first real and significant labour unrest, the Witwatersrand miner strike rocked South Africa to the core in 1922 and in 2012, ninety years later the violent strike by the Rock Operational Drillers at Lonmin following the Marikana massacre and as such did not enjoy statutory protection under the LRA because was classified as wildcat strike. Normally, a wildcat strike constitutes a violation of a collective bargaining agreement in place and as such is not protected unless a union joins it and ratifies the protest. The union may, however, discipline its members for participating in a wildcat strike and impose fines. Among other things miners mainly demanded a wage increment of R12500 per month. The fight between AMCU and NUM for organisational rights also found its way into the equation. A strike wave, not only linked to the mining sector, made 2012 the most protest filled year since the end of apartheid, rolled out across South Africa, closing some industrial operations and crippling others. Commentators argue that the strike wave emerged from a landscape of extreme inequality and poverty, made intolerable by the additional financial burdens arising from the migrant labour system. These factors influenced the industrial action and institutions of collective bargaining comprising of both company and union structures and processes, were found wanting in their ability to address the root causes of the crisis. The post-Marikana strike wave made a mark in the workers struggle movement as it drew in thousands of workers to join AMCU and at the same time weakening NUM, the then majority union. The strike led to the rise and growth of AMCU which was seen by miners as the driver for change. The 2012 strike wave and the Marikana massacre not only changed the balance of forces on the ground against the NUM, but also generated divisions within COSATU. The divisions were between those who decided to remain deaf to the workers’ call for transformation and those who had already realised that a decisive turn in economic policy was needed to avoid a social, economic and political crisis. In the aftermath of the strike, a number community struggles increased as 2012 began and on the other side, a number of splinter groups from COSATU mushroomed which was hobbled by in fights. NUM’s collapse is indeed part of a series of recent failures for COSATU.

Strike action by employees is globally used in matters of mutual interest in order to place pressure on employers to meet their demands although the right to strike is not contained in any of the International Labour Organisation’s (ILO) conventions or recommendations. Two conventions of the ILO are however relevant in the context of strikes and lockouts.1 The first is the Freedom of Association and Protection of the Right to Organise Convention 87 of 1948 and the second convention of importance is the Right to Organise and Collective Bargaining Convention 98 of 1949, both of which was ratified by South Africa and accordingly binds South Africa to comply with their provisions. The ILO appointed legal experts to assist the drafters of the Labour Relations Act,2 (LRA) in order to comply with these conventions. Furthermore section 3 of the LRA provides that the LRA must be interpreted in compliance with the international law obligations of South Africa. Section 27 of the Interim Constitution3 made provision for both the right to strike and the right of employers to lockout. In the proposed text of the final Constitution the recourse of the employer to lockout was not included. The text of the final Constitution was submitted to the Constitutional Court (CC) for certification in that it had to decide whether the new text of the final Constitution complied with the constitutional principles agreed to by the different political parties as the inviolable framework for the final Constitution. The CC delivered its judgment in Ex parte Chairperson of the Constitutional Assembly: In re Certification of the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa4 and concluded that the omission of a right to lockout from the final Constitution does not conflict with constitutional principles. The CC did not agree with the argument, raised by Business South Africa, based on the proposition that the right of employers to lockout is the necessary equivalent to the right of workers to strike and that therefore, in order to treat workers and employers equally, both should be recognized in the new text. The result of this judgment is that employees’ right to strike is expressly protected by section 23 of the Constitution whilst the right of employers to lockout their employees is not expressly entrenched. The employers’ right is however protected by implication through the express protection of the right to bargain collectively in terms of section 23(5) of the Constitution and section 64 of the LRA.

The principle of the right to strike is Internationally recognised. Although the right to strike is not set out explicitly in the International Labour Organizations (ILO) Conventions and Recommendations. It has been discussed on several occasions in the International Labour Conference during the course of preparatory work on instruments dealing with related topics, but for various reasons this has never given rise to international standards (Conventions or Recommendations) directly governing the right to strike. The ILO has determined that the right to strike can be derived from the right to Freedom of Association. The ILO Committee does however recognises certain limitations on the right to strike such as not finding any objection to national legislation that would prohibit the right to strike of armed or police forces. Both the Committee on Freedom of Association and the Committee of experts were also mindful, where public servants are concerned, that the recognition of the right to association of public servants in no way prejudges the question of the right of public servants to strike. The ILO also makes provision for the establishment of essential services as to ensure the continuation of services were the interruption of such would endanger the life, personal safety or health of the whole or part of the population. In this limitation it however holds that a “minimum safety service” may be imposed to ensure the safety of persons, the prevention of accidents and the safety of machinery and equipment In our Constitution, the supreme law of the Country, the right to strike is enshrined and protected in section 23 under the bill of rights. The Constitution however allows enabling legislation, under specific circumstances, to limit a right listed in section 23. The Labour Relations Act (LRA) places a limitation on the right to strike, specifically providing that no person may take part in a strike if that person is engaged in an essential service. Because the right to strike is so important, a limitation of these kind needs to be justified and, to be justified it needs, among other things, to be limited. In section 72 of the LRA provision is made for a minimum service within a designated essential service. Therefore, the ambit of the designated essential service is shrunk to the minimum service and those employees who were denied the right to strike while the broader essential service designation was in place, but who fall outside the defined minimum service, regains the right to strike. The concept of minimum services has however became a matter of regular discussion and debate. The concept of minimum services is not defined to the letter but it is regarded as the minimum service an industry or workplace would require as to ensure interruption of services would not endanger the life, personal safety or health of the whole or part of the population. Our legislatures have also been grappling with the concept of essential and minimum services. They have developed a comprehensive set of amendments trying to address some of the concerns in the composition, powers and functions of the Essential Services Committee (ESC). It is debatable if these proposed amendments would bring forth the necessary change to address these concerns or just become a further bureaucratic hindrance and due to the extreme complexity may even pose a limitation on the right to strike. There is also no differentiation made in the current labour legislation and the proposed amendments, between the public service and the private sector in application of the principle of essential and minimum services. Implementation of these principles in the public services has shown to be extremely challenging. Part of the proposed amendments however makes provision for the specific inclusion of government in the composition of the ESC. It is viewed by the drafters, that the introduction of government nominees to be an innovation to ensure that government is adequately represented on the essential services committee in its capacity as an employer, as a high proportion of essential service matters occur within the public service. This may be viewed as contrary to International standards as the ILO makes clear provision for a differentiated interpretation of the right to freedom of association, the right to strike, essential services and minimum services for people performing functions in the name of the State (public servants). The concept of public servant varies considerably from one country to another. Germany within their governance structure makes provision for a differentiation between civil servants and public servants and the labour rights the two groups may have. In France the military, police and prison services does not have the right to strike. In India public service employees have very limited organising and collective bargaining rights. In Brazil the police and the military do not have the right to strike and there are no legal provisions concerning the right to strike for civil servants. This is in strong contrast with the South African model. The South African Constitution and National Legislation does not allow for a differentiation in the application of labour legislation in the public service and the private sector. The application of the principles of labour relations and more specifically that of the right to strike and the determination of essential services must differ in the public services from that of the private sector. The public service is unique in that when workers in strike action it is not a purely defined labour process between an employer and employees but the public at large becomes a third player within the process. When public servants engage in industrial action they do not only deprive the community of certain rights, but indirectly deprive themselves from the same rights. There has been a resistant fear to implement the provisions of minimum services within the designated essential services within the public service, mainly because of the challenges in conceptualization of the practical implementation of the same. The environment created by the LRA does not specifically provide for the unique circumstances of the public service. The right to strike is a fundamental right for workers and therefore public servants won’t forfeit such. There is a recognition that the State needs to deliver services which will necessitate the application of the principle of essential services. However the answer will be in how minimum services is determined within these essential services. An answer that may not necessarily be contained within the Labour Relations Act.

One of the consequences arising out of the increasing use of automation in industry has been considered to be the effect of this on the trade union's ability to stage a successful strike. In this study, the null hypothesis is tested to determine whether there is a relationship between the level of automation in industry and the propensity to strike in certain industry groups in the United States. Data from two periods is analyzed; Period 1 between 1951 and 1959, and Period 2 between 1960 and 1965. The measurement of the level of automation in industry is made on the assumption that the level of automation is equivalent to the level of application of process control employing electronic computers in these industries. The measurement of propensity to strike is determined by comparing the ranking of the man-days idle due to work stoppages with the ranking of the annual average production worker employment levels among the industries. Secondary data has been adapted for use in the test of the null hypothesis. The data has been extracted mainly from the trade journal, Control Engineering, published by the McGraw-Hill Book Company, and from Analysis of Work Stoppages and the Employment and Earnings Statistics for the United States, published by the United States, Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics. The results indicated that at the level of significance, a = .05, the test on the null hypothesis indicated that there is no relationship between the level of automation in industry and the propensity to strike for Period 1. For Period 2, the test indicated that there is a relationship between the two variables, under the same level of significance. Further analysis of the results for Period 2 indicated that industries that have achieved or maintained a high or low level of automation are associated with high propensity to strike. The high propensity to strike in high level of automation industries tend to be caused by a small number of strikes of long duration on the average. On the other hand, industries that have maintained a low level of automation have been associated with high propensity to strike in general as a result of a large number of strikes of short duration on the average. A model has been developed to explain the relationship between the two variables. It is concluded that the results of the study, due to the short time spans of the periods studied, may only indicate the short-run or transitory trend. It is possible that these results will be dissimilar to those derived from a long-run study, when equilibrium has set in. / Business, Sauder School of / Graduate

This dissertation studies the effects of changes in labour legislation on strike activity in British Columbia during 1945-75. It develops two theories of strike activity and uses regression analysis where dummary variables model the effects of changes in labour legislation on strike activity. The two theories suggested economic determinants of strike activity which were used in the regression analysis. One theory, a strike-as-an-investment theory of bargaining under uncertainty, is applied to first agreement strikes and to contract renewal strikes. The other theory, a "pressure-valve theory" which envisages strikes as means for releasing pent-up frustrations, is applied to strikes during the term. Both theories build upon the theories that preceded them but modify their predecessors. For instance, each theory yields an economic determinant of strike activity that was not derived explicitly from the theories that preceded it. Methodologically, this research project departs in at least four ways from the research project it most closely resembles: the 1969 study by Ashenfelter and Johnson of the labour law-strike relationship in the United States. First, strike activity is classified by contract status: first agreement, contract renewal and during the term. Second, a different set of economic determinants is applied to strikes during the term, as opposed to strikes that issue from interest disputes. That is, the two theories suggest different sets of economic determinants. Third, contract expiry data were gathered and used to construct incidence measures of strike activity, such as the ratio of contract renewal strikes to expiries. (Incidence measures are empirical estimates of the probability that strikes will take place.) Fourth, not just one, but two hypotheses are tested concerning the effects of changes in labour legislation on strike activity. One hypothesis, the conventional hypothesis, tests whether or not the level of strike activity changes while the new statute is in force. The other hypothesis tests whether or not one- or two-year changes in the level of strike activity accompany statutory change. In addition, actual profit data were gathered and used as an indicator of firms' "ability to pay" and/or their ability to withstand strikes. It is inferred from the regression results that changes in labour legislation had some effect on strike activity. However, statistically significant effects were not obtained for the theoretically most appealing strike measures-incidence measures. There is some evidence that recent labour acts of British Columbia were associated with a relative decline in the number of strikes—particularly of strikes during the term and contract renewal strikes. These statutes were less interventionist, less adjudicative and, in practice, less punitive than former acts of British Columbia. Subjective assessments indicate, in particular, that there need not be a causal relationship between changes in labour legislation and the perceived decline in wildcat strikes. / Arts, Faculty of / Vancouver School of Economics / Graduate

Kelly’s mobilization theory does not provide for the role of any cost/risk analysis as part of the process of deciding to embark upon collective action. On the other hand the theories advanced by the like of McAdam, Wiltfang and Simmons considering the incorporation of a cost/benefit analyses as part of the decision to embark upon collective action, do not have regard to the development of a sense of injustice. This study harmonizes the two approaches in seeking to answer the question why employees engage in unprotected strikes considering the significant risk involved. In doing so the study identifies the kind of triggers that would induce such a sense of injustice to trigger participation in unprotected strikes, whilst also investigating whether participants in unprotected strikes actually moderate their conduct to decrease the risks of such participation. This study considered all 98 reported judgements of the Labour Court and the Labour Appeal Court that were reported by LexisNexis. The methodology used in this study was content analysis of a quantitative nature. Descriptive statistics were used to identify patterns, relationships and trends. The analysis of the reported judgements shows that procedural disputes involving single issues at single employers, arising from time-sensitive unilateral changes to workplace practices, are likely to trigger unprotected strikes. The study further demonstrated that employees participating in unprotected strikes and their trade unions actually moderate their conduct to decrease the risk of dismissal. A close relationship between the profound sense of injustice that triggers unprotected strikes and the decisions to moderate the risks were established. / Dissertation (MBA)--University of Pretoria, 2014. / lmgibs2015 / Gordon Institute of Business Science (GIBS) / Unrestricted

Strike waves in the late nineteenth century United States caused widespread property destruction, but strike leaders did not suggest threats to employer property as a comprehensive strategy until the I.W.W. adopted a deliberate program of sabotage. Contrary to historical consensus, sabotage was an intellectually coherent and politically generative response to progressive, technocratic dreams of frictionless social cooperation that would have major consequences for the labor movement. This dissertation treats sabotage as a significant contribution to the intellectual debates that were generated by labor conflict and rapid industrialization and examines its role in shaping federal labor policy. It contends that the suppression of sabotage staked out the limits of acceptable speech and the American political imagination.

In April 1919, the Trades and Labour Council of Limerick County, Ireland, declared a general strike in response to the increasingly militarised policing of the region by the British authorities. A Strike Committee, consisting of local activists, assumed governance of Limerick for two weeks. While various attempts have been made to uncover this largely forgotten chapter of Irish history, the voices and perspectives of workers who initiated and sustained the general strike remain largely absent from the historical record. Therefore, this thesis utilises newspapers and documents produced by local activists in order to assess workers’ motivations for embracing direct action and participating in this radical act of protest. Firstly, I will discuss how the Irish Transport and General Workers’ Union (ITGWU) capitalised on the perceived shortcomings of craft unions and parliamentary strategies by offering a more self-sufficient model of labour activism. Additionally, I will challenge the notion that direct action in Limerick was a fundamentally ‘pragmatic’ endeavour by exploring various ideological currents which inspired workers to participate in the general strike. The Limerick Soviet was not only conceived as a response to specific grievances but was framed by some participants as an act of defiance against both capitalism and British colonialism. Consequently, this thesis will examine how global anti-colonialist and anti-capitalist ideologies and movements influenced the political climate of Limerick between 1916 and 1920. This thesis will also demonstrate the capacity of local activists to adapt and amend ideologies they encountered in order to suit the particularities of the local economic and political climate.