The Bargaining Council for the Furniture Manufacturing Industry of the Western Cape has been in existence for more than 50 years. The Council originated under the Industrial Conciliation Act of 1937 and was registered as an Industrial Council on 8 August 1958.
The Labour Relations Act of 1995 (the Act) created a new legislative framework whereby “Industrial Councils” became “Bargaining Councils.”
Our Legal Basis
The Council is a Statutory body and has been registered in terms of Section 29(15)(a) of the Act, as a Bargaining Council (Department of Labour reference LR 2/6/6/32).
The primary function of the Council is to promote and facilitate collective bargaining at sectoral level; and to give effect to Section 23 of the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa as contained in Chapter 2 of the Bill of Rights.
Our Area of Jurisdiction
The area of jurisdiction covers the whole of the Province of the old Cape Province but excluding the magisterial districts of George, Knysna and Plettenberg Bay.
Our Main Functions
Today, the FBCWC has four essential functions that are:
- To provide a forum to negotiate a collective agreement between employer and employee representative organizations on an annual basis;
- To administer the collective agreement entered into between employer and employee representative bodies in the Furniture Manufacturing Industry. The collective agreement covers standard terms and conditions of employment such as minimum rates of pay, benefits, holidays and other terms and conditions of employment;
- To resolve labour disputes in the Furniture Manufacturing industry rather than referring them to the CCMA
- To administer social benefit funds for employees (e.g. retirement benefits, housing loan benefits and holiday and bonus pay)
Download the Furniture Council Constitution |
