Abstract
A thriving continental economy has kept Botswana stable, but the
same cannot be said of collective bargaining. Botswana has limited
knowledge and experience with regards to collective bargaining
(Mwatcha, 2015). However the country has made efforts to make
collective bargaining workable in Botswana. The government of
Botswana changed a few labor laws to conform to ILO regulations
and international norms. In order to ratify some ILO Conventions,
this resulted in the creation of the Public Service Act No. 30 of
2008The PSA merged all employment laws for the public sector,
repealing previous acts, namely the “Unified Local Government
Service Act, the Teaching Service Act, and Part II A to part II F of the
Tribal Land Act” (Government of Botswana, 2008, p. 10).
Therefore, the paper seeks to establish the extent to which the
legislation supports collective bargaining and the extent to which
the legislative framework provides equal power relations between
employers and trade unions. Exploring how the legislation support
or inhibits collective bargaining could inform collective bargaining
legislation reforms at a national level and strategies for effective
collective bargaining. The study used a subjective methodology
that was known as interpretivism or constructionism, which holds
that reality is socially formed and constructed. A sample size of
fifteen (15) was purposively selected from trade unions in the
public service, the employer (DPSM), the MELSD, industrial court
judges, and shop stewards. The study found that the legislation is
appropriate and provide equal power relations between
bargaining parties albeit few challenge. One of the main challenges
is that parties implement what is contrary to provisions of the
legislation and another challenge is that the Botswana government
monopolizes employment relations. There is a need for capacity
building for bargaining parties to implement what is provided in
the legislation