Some Thoughts on Collective Autonomy: SA Local Government Bargaining Council & others v Municipal Workers Retirement Fund & others (2025) 46 ILJ 2361 (SCA)

The principle of collective autonomy is an element inherent in the rights to freedom of association and to bargain collectively. The principle requires that public authorities, including the courts, respect the autonomy of the collective bargaining process and its outcomes. International labour standards recognise that the scope for intervention, especially in the substance of a collective agreement voluntarily concluded by the bargaining partners, is extremely limited. Although the nature and form of a collective agreement are prescribed by the statutory definition of a ‘collective agreement’ in s 213 of the Labour Relations Act 66 of 1995 and thus constitute an infringement on collective autonomy, these limitations do not offend international standards. The prospect of a right of review of a collective agreement in the hands of third parties raises the spectre of an unjustifiable encroachment on collective autonomy, whether by way of a review of what is contended to be administrative action, but especially a review on the principle of legality. The principle of collective autonomy requires courts to approach attempts by third parties to review and set aside collective agreements with caution and restraint.