Secret ballot floors Sasbo in plan to bring banking industry to its knees

Finance union Sasbo’s high-profile court defeat this week, in which its planned strike in the banking industry was declared unprotected, could be the start of a new regime in which the fierceness and frequency of strike action begin to decline.

In January this year legislation was passed requiring unions intending to embark on strike action to first go through a secret ballot process. This was one of the conditions set by business in negotiations on a national minimum wage at the National Economic Development and Labour Council (Nedlac).

Sasbo, and its trade federation Cosatu, planned to bring the banking industry to its knees with a strike on Friday to protest against lay-offs in the industry following restructuring processes.

The strike was meant to be the biggest in the past 99 years and as many as 40 000 workers would reportedly have participated.

Business Unity SA applied for an order interdicting the strike. Judge Hilary Rabkin-Naicker granted the order on Thursday.

In question was the fact that the union’s application to strike in terms of section 77 of the Labour Relations Act was not approved.

A union that plans to embark on a strike must provide Nedlac with a section 77 notice which sets out the nature of the dispute.

Nedlac will meet the relevant unions and employer to try to resolve the dispute.

If this proves impossible, Nedlac will issue a certificate which grants the union permission to strike and affords protection to union members.

Cosatu had already submitted a section 77 notice in 2017 and maintained in court papers that it was still effective, but the fact that the interdict was granted puts paid to this argument.

“The secret ballot requirement is applicable to all strikes,” Michael Cardo, DA spokesperson on labour, told City Press’ sister paper, Rapport.

“So Sasbo will first have to comply with that requirement before it can strike.”

In the meantime the Banking Association of SA said it was painfully aware of high unemployment rates and that banks should do everything within their power to ameliorate job losses.

Meanwhile, EWN reported Cosatu’s Solly Phetoe as saying: “We are not saying that the strike is cancelled, we’re saying that we’ll mobilise our members for the next step in the programme as we are appealing [the interdict].”

Sasbo’s Joe Kokela said they hoped to take to the streets to strike on October 7.

The labour organisations said they remained resolute in fighting the scourge of retrenchments in the banking industry.

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