Abstract
The right to strike has been under attack globally (Xhafa 2016). In 2019, South Africa joined this
attack by amending the Labour Relations Act to introduce compulsory picketing rules. This
dissertation analyses the impact of compulsory picketing rules on protected strikes for unions and
workers. It does this through an ethnographic analysis of the 2020 national Clover strike in which
data was collected in-person and online through observation. Drawing on the work of Piven and
Cloward (2000) who expanded Tilly’s (1986) concept of ‘repertoires of contention’, the dissertation
utilises the analysis of repertoires from ‘above’ and ‘below’ to unpack the events of the National
Clover strike. The dissertation analyses the dynamic interplay between the repertoires used by
workers from ‘below’ as well as that of the employer from ‘above’ during the strike. This interaction
reveals the exercise of power both from the workers and the employers within a mass mobilisation
(Piven and Cloward 2000: 413). The dissertation details several repertoires used by workers,
including the well-established consumer boycott and the use of online meeting platforms, amongst
their tactics of mobilisation. The use of the e-tactic was a result of the Covid-19 pandemic. This study
found that the repertoires from above included surveillance and lawfare. Surveillance is often used to
intimidate and can create fear amongst striking workers. Interdicts are another tactic used to stop or
to discredit the strike, if not suspend it. Violence was used as a repertoire from above and below. The
findings reveal that the company, police, and the striking workers included violence in their
repertoires during the strike. Overall, the dissertation found that the introduction of compulsory
picketing rules has not stopped protected strikes but have increased the time taken to certify the strike
with a certificate of non-resolution. Prior to the amendments, these processes were not as protracted.
The present delays result in the workers growing frustrated with their union as they rely on their past
strike experiences.