NEC, CONSTRUCTION INDUSTRY v ZIMBABWE NANTONG INTERNATIONAL (PVT) LTD 2014 (2) ZLR 681 (H)

Flynote

Employment — collective bargaining agreement — breach of — procedure to be followed — breach an unfair labour practice — Labour Court having exclusive jurisdiction

Headnote

Section 79 of the Labour Act [Chapter 28:01] provides that, after negotiation, a collective bargaining agreement (CBA) shall be submitted to the Registrar of Labour for registration. The effect of such registration is that the Minister must then publish it as a statutory instrument and thereafter the terms and conditions of the CBA become effective and binding from the date of publication of the SI. Failure to comply with a CBA is an unfair labour practice in terms of s 83(3)(a) of the Act and, as such, it must be resolved in terms thereof by going through a conciliation process before a labour officer or possibly arbitration. Such matters are labour matters which must be dealt with by the Labour Court at first instance, as the High Court's jurisdiction is expressly ousted. It is an abuse of the High Court's jurisdiction to entertain a purely labour matter which has not been heard by the Labour Court at first instance, simply because an applicant found it expedient to approach the High Court and to shun the Labour Court. Any attempt by a legal practitioner to undermine the powers and jurisdiction of the Labour Court in this way would amount to unethical conduct.