MINISTRY OF PUBLIC

SERVICE, LABOUR AND

SOCIAL WELFARE:

LABOUR ACT
AMMENDMENT NUMBER
11 CONVENTION:
GOLDEN PEACOCK;
MUTARE
TOPIC: INTERVENING IN
COLLECTIVE JOB ACTION.

PRESENTED BY: V
MUSOLO;
PROVINCIAL LABOUR
OFFICER (MANICALAND
PROVINCE)
PRESENTATION LAYOUT

 Legal framework
 Definition of CJA
 Labour Officer’s intervention.
 Attributes of a lawful CJA(SRIKE)
 The secret ballot process
 The Labour Officer’s Report and its layout
 The Show Cause Order
 Disposal Order
 Changes brought about by Labour
Ammendment Number 11 and their implications
on CJAs.
The Legal Framework

 The Constitution of Zimbabwe-Section 65 (3)

 The Labour Act- Section 102-112
 S.I 31 of 1993 General Regulations (Section 12 & 13)
 S.I 217 of 2003 Labour (Settlement of Disputes
Regulations), 2003 (Section 8-10)
DEFINITION OF COLLECTIVE
JOB ACTION (CJA)
 The Labour Act [Chapter 28:01] in s 2
defines “collective job action” to mean
“an industrial action calculated to
persuade or cause a party to an
employment relationship to accede to a
demand related to employment, and
includes a strike, boycott, lock-out, sit-
in or sit-out, or picketing, or other such
concerted action”
INTERVENTION BY
LABOUR OFFICERS.
 Labour officers become aware of collect
job action/strikes when employees or their
representatives bring to the Labour
Officers notice of intention to go on strike.
 They can also know about it when
employers visit Labour Offices to report
that there is a strike or that a strike is
looming at their work places.
Cont…

 When a notice of intention to go on strike is

given to a labour officer, the labour officer
registers a case and summons parties to a
hearing through issuance of Notification to
Party to Attend Proceedings (Form LR6) to
both parties (Employer and Employee)
 What would the officer record as the
complaint?
 The intention is to attempt to conciliate the
parties
 Establish issues that have given rise to the
intention to strike
 Advise each party on the legal implications
and consequences of options/ steps they
may want to take
 Side meetings are ideal
Cont…

 If a strike is already in progress, the labour officer visits the

work place (a plea for tools of trade)
 Get a few employee representatives and employer
representatives
 Give an ear to both parties
 Advise and educate the parties on issues in dispute and on
appropriate (legal) courses of action that are ideal for them
to take
 Conduct side meetings where you deem appropriate
Attributes of a Lawful
Collective Job Action(STRIKE)
 7 days notice of the intention must be given before embarking on the
exercise.
 All grievance procedures must be exhausted prior to the strike action.
 Conciliation have been undertaken and Certificate of No Settlement
have been issued
 MUST not be done by employees engaged in an essential service with
the exception on exposure to health hazards and a threat to democracy.
 MUST not be a dispute of right.
 MUST be approved by a registered trade union where applicable.
 If the matter has been referred for arbitration- no strike until
finalization of arbitration processes.
 A secret ballot must be conducted and the majority of employees must
support the strike action.
THE SECRET BALLOT-
PROCESS
 At what point does secret ballot takes place?
 Matters in contention should have been subject
to conciliation and no agreement reached
between the parties.
 A written notice by the Chairman and Secretary
of a workers committee/trade union/ employers’
organization highlighting to the other party
noting- a)reasons for the ballot. b) proposed job
action.
 Voting at the workplace, within the notice
period and working hours.
Cont…

 Voting to be presided for by the DA/LO

 Simple majority prevails/ Deadlock, no CJA
 Industry-wide secret ballots should be conducted
at the different enterprises/establishments and
the Secretary General to collate and record the
results from respective chairpersons.
 Efforts must be made to cover all undertakings
within the scope of the industry as the outcome
of the voting process affects them.
 Records of the secret ballot must be kept by the
trade union/employers’ organization for three
years.
A LABOUR OFFICER’S
REPORT
 The labour officer attending to the strike
action will be required to write a report
pertaining the industrial action.
 The report will contain background
information, facts of the strike and
recommendations.
LAY OUT OF THE REPORT

 Background information relates to:

 Name of the company
 Employee population
 Industry it is in and business it is into
 Its contribution to the economy in general and things like
corporate social responsibility
CONT…

 Facts of the strike include:

 Issues that gave rise to the strike
 Steps taken to address the issues at company level
 Legality/illegality of the strike
 Extent of the strike
 Duration of the strike
 Man hours lost as a result of the strike
Cont…

 Labour officer recommends either issuance

of Show Cause Order or that the parties be
given more room for dialogue.
 Recommendations should be on the basis
of the officer’s assessment of various
issues that pertain to the strike.
SHOW CAUSE ORDER

 Prepared by the Minister at his own initiative or by request

from any interested party to a CJA.
 Who is the face of the Minister in the Ministry in this
regard?
 A respond to a call or engagement in illegal CJA.
 The Minister may call both parties when necessary to
appear before him/her for submissions before he/she issues
a Show Cause Order.
 A notification for parties to make submissions
justifying/against a CJA at the Labour Court.
 To be served to the parties by hand or post
 Form L.R.29 (S.I 31 of 1993).
Cont…

 Show cause provides for: i) notice, specifying-

date, time and place a party should make a
submission for/against a CJA before a Labour
Court.
 The desired/proposed order.
 The Show Cause Order may direct that pending
the outcome of the Labour Court proceedings
on the matter, the CJA be terminated,
postponed or terminated.
 A party aggrieved by an issuance of a Show
Cause Order may note an appeal against the
order within prescribed time, to the Labour
Court.
DISPOSAL ORDER

 Issued by the Labour Court after hearing

submissions from parties.
 Form L.R. 30
 To be served by hand or post
 A disposal Order may give a directive terminating,
postponing or suspending the illegal CJA
 Give a directive that issues leading to the unlawful
CJA be determined in terms of Part X11-Pending
the outcome of deliberations on the matter in
terms of Part X11, the directive that the CBA be
terminated, postponed or suspended.
Cont…

 Disposal orders may also give a directive on

prospective action by the employer ie a)
whether or not to withdraw wages and benefits,
b) whether or not to institute disciplinary
processes, c) whether or not to withdraw
payment of dues by any trade union.
Ammendment Number
11 of 2023
 104 (2)(a) form 14 to 7 days notice of intention
to resort on CJA
 Pros and Cons
Cont…

 109 Liability of persons engaged in unlawful

CJA-subsections 1&2 repealed & substituted by:
 (1)trade union/employer-responsible
person/official/office-bearer-Individually/as a
group in (a) an essential service-Level 14 fine/
Imprisonment for 5 years or both. (b) non-
essential service Level 14 fine or 1 year
imprisonment
 (2) Any other person (a) essential service Level
14 fine /5 years imprisonment or both (b) Non-
essential service Level 14 fine or 1 year
imprisonment
Cont

 Section 111-Ceasation of CJA repealed

 Section 112- Repealed and substituted by Level
14 Fine / 5 years imprisonment considering
terms of respective show cause order or
disposal order, cooperation of the perpetrator
and the extent to which the dispute has been
resolved
THANK YOU