Supervisor’s and shop steward’s need to know and understand the roles and responsibilities of each other, in the context of the unique character of the South African labour environment, including the trade union organisational rights spelt out in the Labour Relations Act.
Once the parties achieve this understanding of each other’s roles and functions, this allows for an environment that will help foster better relationships and enable parties to move to a less confrontational way to achieve desired goals and hopefully achieve an environment of co-operation.
Supervisors and shop steward’s industrial relations and work functions will be covered, as well as guidelines on how to move from confrontation to co-operation. Lastly and importantly the objectives and obligations of the employment relationship and employment contract will be discussed.