Abstract
The majoritarianism principle enables trade unions or trade unions (acting in
collaboration) with majority membership in the workplace or sectorial level to prevail
over the will of minority trade unions and non-unionised employees. It further limits
various rights of minorities, including but not limited to the right to freedom of
association, to join trade unions, to strike and the right to engage in collective
bargaining.
This study will revisit the tenet of majoritarianism and calls for limitation of the
majoritarianism principle to a certain extent in order to accommodate minority unions in
the process of decision-making. Furthermore, it will investigate legislative provisions
that give majoritarian principles the right of existence within the Labour Relations Act
(LRA) and the role that it plays within the extension of the collective agreement.
Ultimately the focus of this dissertation is on the evaluation of the majoritarian principle
and finding a way to streamline it to accommodate the minority unions.
In addition, it argues that the majoritarian principle is valid and has passed the
constitutional test, based on numerous case laws. However, it acknowledges that to a
certain extent, the majoritarian principle on its application must be limited. Furthermore,
it provides a comparative analysis with Australian law where minority unions are given a
role to play in the process of decision making.