Share on LinkedInShare on LinkedIn

ARTICLE · 26 JULY 2023

You Cannot Defy Your Constitution! Or Can You?

A Trade Union's Constitution is like a rule book from which the Trade Union is governed. The Oxford English Dictionary defines a "Constitution" as "A body of fundamental principles...

South AfricaEmployment and HR

A Trade Union's Constitution is like a rule book from which the Trade Union is governed. The Oxford English Dictionary defines a "Constitution" as "A body of fundamental principles or established precedents according to which a state or organisation is governed." It is also a well-established principle in South African Labour law that a Trade Union cannot act in a manner that contradicts its Constitution. The Labour Relations Act (LRA) also requires that every Trade Union must have a Constitution to be registered in South Africa. Within a Trade Union's Constitution is its "Scope of Application," which sets out the industries in which a Trade Union may organise or operate, such as retail, food processing, manufacturing, or the textile industries – to name a few.

We operate a free-to-view policy, asking only that you register in order to read all of our content. Please login or register to view the rest of this article.

See more popular content from