Agency and Closed Shop Agreements - pdf - Pdf

Agency and Closed Shop Agreements By Johanette Rheeder Agency shop agreements Section 25 of the Act allows a representative trade union and the employer, or a representative trade union and an employer's organisation, to conclude a collective agreement known as an agency shop agreement. These agreements are collective in nature and the union cannot force the employer into such an agreement, unless by strike action. The refusal by an employer to enter into an agency shop agreement cannot be referred to arbitration. This agreement requires the employer to deduct an agreed agency fee from the remuneration of employees - who must be identified in the agreement - who are not members of the trade union but who are eligible for membership. The employee does not have to belong to the union, but must pay the dues as the employee enjoys the fruit of the union’s negotiations with the employer. The reasoning behind this type of agreement therefore, is that the trade unions say that when they negotiate for improved terms and conditions of employment for their members, or they negotiate for higher wages for the members, all employees in that workplace benefit from the results of those negotiations - even those employees who are not members of the trade union. The viewpoint of the trade union is therefore that those employees who are not members of the trade union but who are benefiting from the negotiation efforts of the trade union should pay some sort of fee to the trade union. Those employees are not forced to join a trade union, and they are still free to join any other trade union of their choice. Only a trade union that is a majority trade union may enter into such an agreement.