There’s nothing the DA likes better than to find one of its own proposals being debated seriously by government and the ANC. And yes, it’s finally happened. DA MP Ian Ollis (full disclosure: Ollis is an occasional columnist for the Daily Maverick) was cock a hoop on Wednesday. He says that Nedlac (that forum where business, government and labour get together to thrash out complex issues… usually without the prying guise of the media. Probably the reason why it gets some stuff done!) is ...

The Department of Labour supported a private members’ bill submitted by the DA that would make unions legally liable when their members looted and damaged property during a strike, Ian Ollis, the party’s spokesman on labour, said yesterday.

He said that during a briefing to the portfolio committee on labour about the passage of the four controversial labour amendment bills through Nedlac, the negotiating chamber for the government, labour and business, the department revealed that it had i...

COSATU opposes DA bill because it needs violence to get its own way

Yesterday, COSATU rubbished the DA's legislative proposal to make unions responsible for the misconduct of its members during strikes. It claimed that it already "puts measures in place to prevent strike violence" and that any legislation to hold unions accountable for such violence is therefore "out of order".

Actually, the contrary is true. COSATU has never attempted to prevent its members from wreaking havoc during strikes. ...

THE Department of Labour’s October deadline for finalisation of amendments bills to SA’s labour legislation has passed with no discernible progress.

The bills were the first proposed amendments to SA’s labour laws in years and the parties involved — the government, business and labour — have described them as delicate due to their far-reaching implications for the labour market.

Last month Labour Minister Mildred Oliphant said she wanted the bills to be final...