Unionists’ might struggle to push proposed labour reforms in Parliament, suggests lawyer

Labour lawyer Anton Roskam said unions may face difficulty pushing through some of the proposed labour law reforms in Parliament.

The bill, which is still making its way to Parliament, proposes doubling the statutory severance pay from one to two weeks.

It also seeks to expand the definition of an employee and introduces regulations for “on-call” working hours.

The proposed legislation further limits remedies for high-income earners in cases of unfair dismissals.

Disagreement over some of the proposed changes saw the Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU) and the South African Federation of Trade Unions (SAFTU) clash in 2025, with SAFTU labelling some of the changes in the amendment bill as an attack on workers' gains.

But as leaders gather at 2026’s organised labour school on the outskirts of Pretoria, the two federations seem to have buried the hatchet.

Unions, the government, civil society and business through the National Economic Development and Labour Council (NEDLAC) have proposed sweeping changes to the country’s labour laws.

One of the big changes workers are seeking to reform is the labour broking system, which they said leaves many workers vulnerable.

Raskom said it will be a lot more difficult to push the law through Parliament following the African National Congress (ANC)’s loss of its parliamentary majority.

“We are attempting as much as possible to get consensus, so when we get to Parliament with a consensus position from social partners and the DA and other can't unravel it so easily.”

SAFTU general secretary Zwelinzima Vavi said there are still concerns regarding the new laws and regulations published by the labour minister

“Key concerns are the attack of workers on probation, the attack on young workers without protection and to give too many concessions to startup companies who will do as they wish in terms of replacing workers without following process, and above all with retrenchments, that workers who are retrenched must always get first preference when the company does well again.”

The unions said they are now consolidating their positions for further negotiations at NEDLAC before the bill is tabled in Parliament.

These developments come amid warnings of a deepening crisis, with unions blaming weak law enforcement, job losses and internal fragmentation for their declining influence and membership.

Vavi said times are hard for unions.

“We are being slaughtered in the manufacturing sector. All unions in the private sector are taking a serious pounding in terms of the job losses. The deindustrialisation has been fast-tracked. We have been saying historically that we lost 50% of our manufacturing capacity. And I wonder what is happening now.

“The crisis of mispricing, love of illicit trade that have seen 75% of all cigars being produced in the illicit market, that 18% already of all liquor is coming from the illicit, the crisis of cash flow illicit flows, all of that is now beginning to hold us. South Africa, as we have been saying, is becoming a wholesale economy. We are only a warehouse that receives finished goods, up to clothing, up to food, everything. And we can't survive like this.”

COSATU general secretary Solly Phetoe has echoed these concerns, saying employers are routinely ignoring labour laws, including the national minimum wage.

He said unions are not as strong as they used to be.

“I don't think we're as strong as we used to be as organised labour. It can work if we can move out from personal interest and say we are focusing on the interests of workers, we'll be able to win this challenge that we're facing. Because the enemy is able to deal with us, because we're not united. That's why employers are doing what they think. They undermine the law.

“For example, 45% of employers are not complying [with the minimum wage] because there's no mandatory mechanism. There's no enforcement. That's why we want to amend the National Minimum Wage Act to force these employers. Yes, at the level of CCMA [Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration], we take the case to an extent that it goes through for prosecution.”