Section 69(6C)(b) of the LRA determines that no picket in support of a protected strike may take place unless picketing rules have been agreed upon or have been determined by the CCMA in terms of s69(5) of the LRA.
What are the consequences when employees embark on a strike where there is non-compliance with the aforesaid statutory provisions?
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The labour court, in SA Clothing and Textile Workers Union v KZN Marketing (Pty) Ltd (2023) 44 ILJ 828 (LC); [2023] 1 BLLR 83 (LC); (2022) 33 SALLR 283 (LC), adopted the following approach to this scenario:
- provided that the strike is protected in terms of s64 and s65 of the LRA, the strike does not lose such protection because the striking employees participated in an unlawful picket
- the employer should utilise the dispute-resolution scheme provided for in s69(8) to s69(11) of the LRA – entailing that the dispute should be referred to the CCMA regarding the effective use of the right to picket being undermined, a copy of the referral should be served on all the parties to the dispute, the CCMA should attempt to resolve the dispute through conciliation and, if the dispute remains unresolved, the matter should be referred to the labour court for adjudication
