Labour Relations In South Africa

The South African labour market has undergone unparalleled reformations since 1994. This textbook, up to date with all legislation at the time of writing, provides a comprehensive text for students at tertiary institutions. It should also be a useful reference for industrial relations practitioners.

This edition of Industrial relations in South Africa includes new sections on termination transfers, affirmative action, conflict handling, and joint problem solving.

In the preface to the first edition (McGraw-Hill 1986) some background was provided to the turbulent years during which the material for this book was conceived and developed. The first ideas were put together during the three weeks of the now famous Volkswagen strike of 1980 and were initially produced as a core course in industrial relations. This was written with the expectation that industrial relations would become an increasingly pressing issue in South Africa as a whole, and not only in the Eastern Cape where it featured so prominently during those early years after Wiehahn. The original objective the course was to create awareness and knowledge of industrial relations issues across the spectrum of participants in the process.

This edition of South African employment relations: theory and practice has the distinction that after 20 years of existence in the market, it is one of the longest continuously running employment relations books in South Africa.

The third edition of this book offers an applied, problem-solving, and practical approach to labor relations balanced with both a strategic and a managerial perspective. The text reflects new issues, trends and focus areas within the subject area.

"Labour Relations: A southern African perspective is the seventh edition of a text first published in 1989 under the title Labour Relations in South Africa. At that time, it was the first comprehensive textbook of its kind and was hailed as having reached the finishing line when others were still at the starting block. Since then continuous social, political and legislative developments, and the ever-changing labour relations scenario, have necessitated regular updates, as well as the more recent change to its title. Like its predecessors, this edition uses the labour 'relationship' as its starting point, guiding readers through the establishment of labour relations systems, the key participants and interactions involved and the legislation governing these interactions. It does this by using detailed practical examples, explanations and real-life cases where applicable. In various parts of this latest edition, the text touches on the Fourth Industrial Revolution, the nature of changes to come and the implications for the world of work."--Publisher's description.