Neasa, Saefa fail in court bid to halt extension of MEIBC Main Agreement to nonparties

The Labour Court has dismissed an application brought by the National Employers’ Association of South Africa (Neasa) and the South African Engineers’ and Founders’ Association (Saefa) to declare Section 32(1) of the Labour Relations Act unconstitutional and halt the extension of the Main Agreement of the Metal and Engineering Industries Bargaining Council (MEIBC) to nonparties.

This follows after the MEIBC in May recognised in its Main Agreement that small, medium-sized and microenterprises (SMMEs) had been ignored in respect of no small-employer dispensation, which was largely unaffordable for small and starter businesses until now.