BY lvan lsraelstam, Chief Executive of Labour Law Management Consulting.

Before a trade union can legally force the employer to recognise shop stewards as worker representatives the trade union first has to:

1. Gain official recognition itself from the employer; and

2. Show that the trade union on its own (or together with other trade unions) has as members the majority of the employees at the workplace; and

3. Have, at the workplace, at least ten trade union members on its own or jointly with other unions.

The employer that recognises a trade union and shop stewards has to pay normal wages to the employees elected as shop stewards. When the worker puts aside his duties as an employee and carries out his/her shop steward duties the employer must still, in most cases, pay him/her!

It is therefore vital for the employer to enter into an agreement with the union before recognising the union and the shop steward so as to control the activities of the union and of the shop stewards. Without such an agreement the shop stewards might act beyond their authority and squander valuable production time. The employer should therefore:

· Refuse recognition of the shop steward until a properly drafted union recognition agreement has been signed

· Impose, via the recognition agreement, strict controls on the activities of the shop steward

· Make the shop steward fully aware of the consequences of breach of the terms of the recognition agreement and of the employer’s code of conduct

· Take swift yet legally correct action where shop stewards flout the rules

· Join a reputable employers’ organisation such as the GDPEO in order to gain access to expert legal advice and representation.

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Author may be contacted on (011) 888-7944 or 0828522973 or on e-mail address: labourlaw@absamail.co.za. Web address: www.labourlawadvice.co.za.

To attend our May 2010 seminars in JHB and Cape Town on CHANGES AND DANGERS IN LABOUR LAW please contact Ronni at ronni@labourlawadvice.co.za or on 0845217492 or (011) 782-3066.