The Labour Appeal Court delivered a judgment on 10 September 2020, dismissing an appeal by AMCU against a Labour Court judgment on secondary strikes. The basis for AMCU’s secondary strike appeal was the argument the a union can call multiple secondary strikes simultaneously at different employers in the same industry. AMCU argued that it is permissible to do so if it can show that the ‘secondary employers’ may be able to persuade the ‘primary employer’ to accede to their demands.
The LAC found that the issue had become academic and that the appeal was moot. It did so because the primary strike had been settled by the time the appeal came before the court.
AMCU argued that the appeal should be entertained despite the issue having become academic. The LAC found that there was no basis to entertain the appeal as there were already pre-existing judgments which had pronounced on the issue.
Read a copy of the LAC’s judgment, which deals with the principles on mootness, here:
AMCU secondary strike appeal
