Labour: DA to table bill on strike violence

Published Jul 8, 2014

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A private member’s bill seeking to prevent strike-related violence would be submitted to Parliament soon, the DA said yesterday. “The DA respects workers’ constitutionally guaranteed right to engage in lawful protest action. However, a balance must be struck between workers’ rights and the rule of law,” DA spokesman on labour Ian Ollis said. The official opposition would submit a private member’s bill seeking to introduce legislation that would force unions to take practical steps to prevent strike-related violence. This would include educating workers about the law and forcing unions to provide marshals to help with crowd control. Ollis also proposed empowering courts to either force employers and unions into arbitration where strikes were excessively violent, or declare such a strike unprotected. Courts should also have the power to award damages against unions that did not take set measures to prevent violence and damage to property. – Sapa

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