LLM (Cape Town)
M Labour Economics (University of Campinas, Brazil)

Mario Jacobs is a former trade union official with 24 years’ experience in the South African labour movement. Part of his trade union work involved research in the field of labour law and labour market developments. He has a master’s degree in labour law from the University of Cape Town and a master’s degree in social and labour economics from the University of Campinas, Brazil. He is currently undertaking his PhD studies in industrial sociology. He is currently a researcher at the Labour, Development and Governance Research Unit.

Research Interests

Mario's research interest includes global and regional value chains and decent work; trade union organisation; and collective bargaining. He has co-authored many research reports and journal articles, and two book chapters.

Publications

Research publications

(2020). The South African Automobile Manufacturing Sector: Sustainable Investments and Decent Work. (Unpublished). IndustriALL research paper on the South African automotive and vehicle component industries. The report is co-authored with Dr Shane Godfrey.

(2020). The road is their workplace. (Unpublished). ITF research paper on cross border truck drivers. The research, commissioned by the ITF head office, focused on identifying strategic opportunities to increase trade union density along the North-South corridor and the Maputo and Trans-Kalahari corridors. Research were conducted in South Africa, Namibia, Botswana, Zambia and Mozambique. The report is co-authored with Dr Shane Godfrey and Ratula Beukes.

(2019). African trade unions in value chains - Breaking the chain. The research project studied how trade unions in the retail sector could build union organisation by developing a better understanding of the retail value chain. Individual country reports were produced for South Africa, Botswana, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Kenya, Eswatini and Lesotho. The project, done in collaboration with the Labour Research Service (LRS) was supported by the DGB-Bildungswerk-Bund, FES Trade Union Competence Centre for sub-Saharan Africa and UNI Africa. The report is co-authored with Dr Shane Godfrey.

(2018). Promoting freedom of association, organisational rights and collective bargaining in the Western Cape fruit and wine sectors: What are the lessons from ‘good practice’ farms? The research study, commissioned by the Ethical Trading Initiative (ETI), looked at the ongoing challenge of developing good labour relations on South African farms, in particular, relations mediated by collective bargaining. The report is co-authored with Dr Shane Godfrey and Dr Emma Fergus. 

(2017). An examination of how the National Minimum Wage can be optimally accommodated by the existing labour legislative framework. The study raises major legal issues that also involve policy choices to existing provisions in the drafting of the NMW provisions. The report is co-authored with Dr Shane Godfrey.

(2017). Future of Work. ILO (SA) publication. Paper one co-authored with Dr Asanda Benya, Dr Crispen Chinguno and Bianca Tame.

(2017) An investigation into how non-standard and informal workers can address their vulnerability – A case study of the Khayelitsha and Mitchells Plain townships. The research paper provides a socio-legal analysis of precarious work and vulnerability. It draws on the findings of a household survey and focus group interviews with respondents from two neighbouring communities in Cape Town. The report is co-authored with Dr Shane Godfrey, Emeritus Professor Darcy du Toit, Roger Ronnie and Fairuz Mullagee.

(2017) A study of the development and decent work potential of the cotton, textile and clothing value chain in five countries in sub-Saharan Africa. The research study investigated the potential of decent work in the cotton, textile and clothing industries in Ethiopia, Tanzania, Madagascar, Swaziland (now Eswatini) and Lesotho. The report is co-authored with Dr Shane Godfrey.

Book chapters

(2019). Regulating Strikes in Essential Services: A Comparative 'Law in Action' Perspective. Wolters Kluwer. Co-authoring a chapter on the South African case study with Emeritus professor Darcy du Toit and Roger Ronnie.

(2018). Strikes and the law. LexisNexis. Co-authoring a law book on strikes and the socio-economic factors contributing to strike action in South Africa. Authors include Emeritus professor Halton Cheadle, Emeritus professor Darcy du Toit, Judge Anton Steenkamp, Professor Tamara Cohen, Dr Emma Fergus and Bradley Conradie.

Journal articles

Fergus, E and Jacobs, M ‘The contested terrain of secret ballots’ (2020) 41 ILJ 757.

Du Toit, D; Jacobs, M and Ronnie, R ‘Revisiting strikes in essential services’ (2018) 39 ILJ 2131.

Godfrey, S; du Toit, D and Jacobs, M ‘The new labour bills: An overview and analysis’ (2018) 39 ILJ 2161.

Godfrey, S and Jacobs, M ‘The national minimum wage: How best to align it with the existing labour regulatory framework’ (2018) 39 ILJ 1.

Jacobs, M Youth unemployment in SA. South African Labour Bulletin, Volume 38 No 3 Sep/Oct 2014