POLOKWANE – Don’t think of today as just another public holiday.

In South Africa, Workers’ Day has been officially observed since 1994 and government says it remains committed to ensure the welfare and good conditions of service for workers.

To achieve this, government has put in place progressive labour legislation and key programmes in line with the Constitution. Labour law prevents discrimination, including workplace discrimination.

Worker’s Day is commemorated every year on 1 May as a way of remembering and commemorating the origins within the historical struggles of workers and their trade unions for solidarity between working people to achieve fair employment standards.

These struggles included the need to establish a culture of human and worker rights which are enshrined in international law and the national law of the countries aligned to the International Labour Organisation, of which South Africa is a member.

Currently, the Department of Labour is in the process of amending the Labour Relations Act to deal with the increase in labour brokering and with the abuses associated with the practice and the way in which it deprives many workers of basic protection under labour law.

• The Labour Relations Act (LRA), 1995 supports the primacy of collective agreements and emphasises the need for organised labour and business to regulate its relationship by entering into collective agreements.
• Registered unions and employer organisations may establish bargaining councils, as statutory bodies established by the LRA, 1995, within a specific economic sector. They represent the centre piece of the bargaining system.
• The replacement of the Conciliation Board by the Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration (CCMA) signals a shift from a highly adversarial model of relations to one based on promoting greater cooperation, industrial peace and social justice.
• South Africa has established specialist labour courts. These courts exist side by side with traditional courts. The labour courts generally exercise exclusive jurisdiction over specialist labour matters. The Labour Court of South Africa has exclusive jurisdiction over all matters reserved for it under the LRA, 1995.

To achieve racial reconciliation, South Africa is addressing unemployment, inequality, ownership of companies and other socio-economic factors that are responsible for antagonism in our communities.