Transnational Labour Relations: A Dream or Possibility in SADC?

Abstract

John Donne’s famous saying ‘no man is an island, entire of itself’ is even more relevant today than it was in 1624 especially in the world of international trade, globalisation, international treaties and the United Nations. Globalisation and the increasing movement of capital and labour across international borders, with the exception of migrant workers who are facing major obstacles in immigration laws, are creating a situation where laws in general and labour laws in particular are obtaining an international character. Internationally, the problem of movement of labour is the asymmetric structure between capital and labour in reference to the freedom of movement. In view of increasing globalisation, the Conventions of the International Labour Organization (ILO) have assumed greater prominence in recent years. Internationalisation and globalisation have had a growing impact in many areas, especially on legal and economic relations. Contrary to what Mr Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe might think, no country can isolate itself from the international community. Without taking anything away from the sovereignty of independent states, all countries in the world are part of a larger world community. International bodies like the UN, ILO, EU and others have adopted various international norms and standards to which most countries have agreed, which established minimum international standards with regards to basic universal human rights and worker rights. The Southern African Development Community (SADC) is a transnational organisation that has also adopted certain basic norms and standards in its Treaty, Charter on Fundamental Social Rights and various protocols that are applicable to all citizens within SADC. ∗ PhD (Labour Relations Management). Senior Lecturer, Department of Human Resource Management, University of Pretoria, Republic of South Africa. SADC = Southern African Development Community. This paper is the first of a much larger three year (2013–15) research project on Transnational Labour Relations in SADC under the mentorship of Professor Manfred Weiss. 1 P. A. Smit, Disciplinary Enquiries in Terms of Schedule 8 of the Labour Relations Act 66 of 1995, Unpublished PhD thesis, University of Pretoria (2010). 2 Basic facts and figures regarding the composition and aims of the SADC are provided below.