A process to verify the membership numbers of the Metal and Engineering Industries Bargaining Council (MEIBC) would be completed at the end of February, after which the findings would be submitted to Labour Minister Mildred Oliphant as part of a reapplication to extend the council’s collective bargaining levy agreement to nonparties for another five years, secretary-general Thulani Mthiyane said on Thursday.

The agreement, which was first entered into in 2002, was extended for the first time in 2007. This extension expired on December 31, while the process to extend the agreement for another five years, to 2017, was now under way.

On December 20, the Labour Court of South Africa ruled that the extension of the collective bargaining agreement was invalid, as the Minister failed to establish the representivity within the scope of the agreement, as required by Section 32(3) (b) and (c) of the Labour Relations Act (LRA).

Judge Justice André van Niekerk stated that the 49.47% of employees and companies that were covered by the agreement, as per a representivity certificate submitted by the MEIBC to the Minister, was insufficient.

However, the court suspended its order of invalidity for a period of four months to allow the Minister to reconsider whether or not to extend the agreement in terms of Section 32(5) of the LRA.

Mthiyane stated that the MEIBC had appointed audit firm KPMG to undertake the member verification process. “We are confident that the exercise by KPMG will confirm that the employer and trade unions representation is well beyond 60% in the industry.”

He added that the MEIBC would continue to enforce the collective bargaining agreement until April 20, beyond which the situation would depend on the Minister’s decision.

However, the MEIBC warned that, if the agreement were to be ordered invalid, it could lead to tension and potentially serious disputes, which could undermine orderly collective bargaining and labour peace.

“Recent events in the platinum and gold mines, as well as the agricultural sector, have shown the serious prejudicial consequence of a failure to tenure smooth and orderly collective bargaining through recognised structures, sometimes manifesting in violent and unlawful industrial action,” it stated.

Meanwhile, Mthiyane said certain parties to the bargaining council, particularly employers, had disputed the distribution of the levy to parties and that an arbitration date had been set for March 19 to deal with the matter.

Party employer organisation, the National Employers Association of South Africa, was seeking to increase its payment, while also arguing that co-party employer organisation the Steel and Engineering Industries Federation of South Africa’s payment be reduced.