NEDLAC COMPLETES LRA TASKS

10 July 1996

Nedlac has completed a series of tasks implementing new labour dispute-resolution processes as required by the new Labour Relations Act (LRA).

The LRA is expected to be promulgated soon.

Nedlac Executive Director Jayendra Naidoo says the key tasks which required action by Nedlac and which had been completed in the nine months since the Labour Relations Act (LRA) was passed by Parliament included:

• Nominating members and an independent chairperson for the governing body of the Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration (CCMA).
• Advising Justice Minister Dullah Omar on the seat of the new Labour Court.
• Advising President Nelson Mandela on who the Judge President and deputy Judge President of the new Labour Court should be.
• Submitting nominations for the Rules Board.
• Submitting nominations for the Essential Services Committee.
• Approving and finalising the LRA amendment bill.

The process for finalising regulations and schedules to the LRA is expected to be completed next week. "Two items still under consideraton are the drafting of codes of practices for picketing and retrenchments, and the setting of criteria for demarcations of sections and areas. Work on these two matters is progressing," he says. The names of five nominees for the Rules Board (which is to set rules of conduct for the Labour Court and the Labour Appeal Court) and six nominees for the Essential Services Committee (which decides which public services are essential, therefore prohibiting workers from striking) have already been submitted to Justice Minister Dullah Omar and Labour Minister Tito Mboweni respectively for their approval. "Announcements regarding appointments to these two new structures should be made by the minister in the near future," Naidoo says.

The appointments of Judge John Myburgh and Judge Froneman as Judge President and deputy Judge President of the Labour Court have been confirmed, as has the 10-person governing body for the CCMA, chaired by attorney Ray Zondo.

Johannesburg has been approved as the main seat of the new Labour Court, with satellite courts operating in Cape Town, Port Elizabeth and Durban. Nedlac has also recommended that the CCMA and the Labour Courts be housed in the same buildings in so far as it is possible.

The parliamentary portfolio committee on labour received the LRA amendment bill from Nedlac in mid-June, and it is expected to be considered by Parliament during its next session.

"I am very pleased that we have been able to complete the key tasks allocated to Nedlac by the LRA in good time," Naidoo says.