Trade Unions and Business Functions in South Africa

Trade Unions

• A trade union (or labor union) is an organization that protects employees' rights and interests.
• They help improve working conditions, pay, and productivity.
• They represent workers in disciplinary hearings and negotiations with employers.
• They provide education, training, and legal advice.

Trade Unions in South Africa

• South African trade unions have a history of fighting for equal rights for all workers.
• Early unionization often faced challenges, like restrictions on strikes for black workers.
• Significant events include strikes in the early 1900's and the formation of major organizations like SACTU and COSATU.
• Full equality for black workers was achieved in 1994.
• Key organizations include FEDUSA and COSATU.

Functions of a Business

• Marketing: Understanding customer needs and wants, using the 4Ps (Product, Price, Place, Promotion), and advertisements.
• Administration: Managing information systems (collecting, sorting, processing and storing data) and handling potential problems like data loss/leaks.
• Human Resources: Ensuring staff happiness, qualifications, training, and growth. Addressing issues like conflict and demotivation.
• Public Relations: Building a positive business image and relationships with customers through effective communication. Potential problems include negative publicity.
• Finance: Managing and controlling money (budgeting, tracking cash flow) by recording and reporting to ensure financial health.
• General Management: Coordinating the business's various functions by setting goals, planning, organizing, leading, and controlling.
• Purchasing: Obtaining necessary goods and services at the right quality, price, and time.
• Production: Ensuring quality products meet demands by controlling costs.

Balancing General Ledger Accounts

• Balancing a general ledger involves finding the difference between debit and credit amounts for an account.
• This ensures that each transaction has a corresponding debit and credit (double-entry bookkeeping).
• If the debit and credit sides are equal, the account is balanced. 
• Balancing is done to verify that transactions are recorded on the double-entry system.