The Department of Labour plans to remove bogus trade unions and employer organisations from the job market, Minister of Labour Membathisi Mdladlana said on Thursday.
”I really mean business by weeding out bogus trade unions and employer organisations that have ceased to be genuine,” he said after the Labour Court dismissed with costs an urgent application filed by the National Employers Forum (NEF) challenging its deregistration.
Mdladlana’s department said in a statement Johannesburg Labour Court Judge AJ Semenya also ordered the NEF to pay the department’s legal costs.
The NEF was deregistered in terms of Labour Relations Act (LRA) in January for not complying with the law.
Violations included:
- Failure to comply with the provisions of Sections 98, 99 and 100 of the LRA, which stipulate that such organisations should submit audited financial statements on an annual basis.
- The NEF had not functioned as a ”genuine organisation” as envisaged by Section 106 (2A) of the LRA. The law says the registrar can cancel the registration of a trade union or employer’s organisation if he or she is satisfied that it has ceased to be regarded as genuine.
- The NEF was not functioning in terms of its constitution. The law stipulates that the organisation has the duty to keep books and records of income and arrange for annual audit of its books as provided by the law.
Last year the department deregistered 128 trade unions and 28 employer organisations. — Sapa