This Supplementary Order Paper amends the Employment Relations Amendment Bill by deleting clauses 9, 10, and 11.

The intention of this amendment is to remove the compulsion on an employer to conclude a collective agreement. As the Bill currently stands, these clauses require bargaining parties to conclude a collective agreement. They specify that bargaining parties must continue discussion until all matters have been exhausted, even when some issues are at an impasse and where, in actuality, there is no foreseeable remedy.

These clauses are in conflict with the object of the principal Act, particularly with reference to protecting the integrity of individual choice, with respect to building productive employment relationships through the promotion of good faith in all aspects of the employment relationship.

In addition, these clauses run the risk of being in breach of international labour standards as the legislation essentially makes settlement of a collective agreement mandatory. The International Labour Organisation states “the voluntary negotiation of collective agreements, and therefore the autonomy of the bargaining partners, is a fundamental aspect of the principle of freedom of association”. These clauses appear to contravene this.