The Industrial Conciliation Act, 1956 (Act No. 28 of 1956; subsequently renamed the Labour Relations Act, 1956), formed part of the

apartheid Apartheid ( , especially South African English: , ; , ) was a system of institutionalised racial segregation that existed in South Africa and South West Africa (now Namibia) from 1948 to the early 1990s. It was characterised by an ...

system of racial segregation in

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

. It prohibited the registration of any new 'mixed' unions and imposed racially separate branches and all-white executive committees on existing 'mixed' unions. It prohibited strikes in 'essential industries' for both black and white workers and banned political affiliations for unions. Clause 77 legalized the reservation of skilled jobs to white workers, as the Bantu Building Workers Act of 1951 had done in the construction trade, 'to ensure that they will not be exploited by the lower

standard of living Standard of living is the level of income, comforts and services available to an individual, community or society. A contributing factor to an individual's quality of life, standard of living is generally concerned with objective metrics outsid ...

of any other race'. The primary objective of the Industrial Conciliation Act was to separate the trade-union movements along racial lines, with the aim of weakening them. The Act ended recognition of trade unions with white, Coloured and Indian membership. This specified that trade unions with mixed membership had to cater exclusively for one racial group or split up into exclusive racial sections, each under the guidance of a white-controlled executive. At this time, Africans had not yet been granted permission to belong to a registered union. The Act also gave additional powers to the minister to announce strikes illegal in essential industries. Whites are thought to have benefited from this Act because the Act gave legal force to white job reservation practices. The amendments introduced by the Industrial Conciliation Amendment Act, 1979, attempted to control African trade unions by incorporating them into the industrial-relations machinery. They could apply for registration and then, if recognised by employers could establish a

checkoff A checkoff or check-off is a bookkeeping mechanism that provides for regular payment of an obligation such as union dues. The same term is used to refer to a tax on sales of agricultural goods that finance a generic commodity marketing program; ...

system to collect subscriptions and negotiate wage agreements. Government employees were excluded from the scope of the Act, and trade unions were not allowed to have any connection with a political party.

Repeal

The act was repealed by the Labour Relations Act No 66 of 1995.

References

Industrial Conciliation Act
1956 in South African law Apartheid laws in South Africa {{Statute-stub