Members may be aware that the current Bargaining Council Administration and Dispute Resolution Levies will expire on 31 March 2025.
Whilst new Administration and Dispute Resolution Collective Agreements have been concluded for the next five years i.e., until 30 March 2030, both agreements have not yet been processed for gazettal and extension. This is due to an issue that arose in November 2024 in relation to the Certificate of Representativeness issued to the Bargaining Council. The Certificate is a key requirement for a gazettal request, which the Council and the Parties are working to resolve.
Whilst we are dealing with remedying the defective certificate, it is likely that the current administration and dispute resolution agreements will expire before the new agreements are gazetted.
In an attempt to avert plunging the Council back into an untenable operating and financial environment, NUMSA has made application in terms of Section 32(A) of the Labour Relations Act. The applications request the Minister of Employment and Labour to renew and extend the current agreements for a period of 12 months on a date to be determined by the Minister.
The Department of Employment and Labour received the two applications and has published a notice in government gazette, inviting representations from the public. The NUMSA applications were lodged on 27 January 2025, the gazette was published on 28 February and the window to make representations closes 21 days from the publication of the Notice, i.e., 21 March.
SEIFSA on behalf of the Associations is drafting a joint motivation in support of the two applications. All the trade unions support the NUMSA application and we anticipate the PCA(SA) and possibly the CEO to also be in support. NEASA and SAEFA, we have been informed, will not sign the motivation but will not oppose it. Regardless, we anticipate the two applications going through and the Minister gazetting the two agreements.
This notwithstanding, we anticipate a break in continuity between the expiry of the current agreements and the gazettal of the extension request. This will probably be between 30 to 60 days at worst.
During this hiatus period and in the absence of the two collective agreements being signed-off we have communicated to the bargaining council that any monies collected from employers and employees who have, for whatever reason, chosen to continue to make payments, must be ring-fenced and at the earliest opportunity be reimbursed to employers and their employees. Legally, there is nothing compelling employers and their employees from continuing to make payments once the two agreements expire.
We have been assured that the Bargaining Council will be able to function normally during this period of disruption. Please note that levies and contributions in respect of the Metal Industry Funds i.e., Pension, Provident and Sick Pay Funds continue unaffected.
We apologise for the inconvenience and we assure members that we will be working as hard as possible to limit the hiatus period as much as is practically possible under the circumstances.
Should you have any questions please do not hesitate to contact me direct on 082 449 6270 or email me at lucio@seifsa.co.za
You may also reach out to my colleagues Vuyiswa, Michael and/ or Boikanyo in the Industrial Relations Division on (011) 298-9400
Lucio Trentini
Chief Executive Officer
