An Examination of the Need to Introduce a Strike Fund to Compensate Victims of “No Work, No Pay” during a Protracted Strike—Transplanting Lessons from other Jurisdictions to South Africa

The “no work, no pay” rule during long strikes negatively affects striking workers and negatively affects the negotiation process as workers feel compelled to agree to offers that may sometimes be unfavourable to them. They do this because they fear losing wages as a result of the “no work, no pay” rule that employers normally resort to when workers are on strike. Employers use the “no work, no pay” rule to inflict economic harm on striking workers. Employers try to indirectly force workers to accept their offer prematurely, which affects the fairness of the negotiation process. To address the negative effects of protracted strikes and the “no work, no pay” rule, this article proposes that a policy on the creation of a strike fund should be adopted in South Africa to compel unions to include a provision regulating the fund and a strike pay in their constitutions. The strike fund should provide union members with financial assistance for the lost wages while participating in long strikes. The union constitution must state and clarify the eligibility criteria should members want to claim from the fund. It must also state whether there should be a waiting period before members can lodge their claims.