But for others, the move may be seen as a bold - and strategically wise - attempt to defend the carefully constructed and heavily politicised system of collective bargaining, which has been at the heart of South African labour policy since the end of apartheid and which has, over the past few weeks, seemed on the brink of collapse.

BBC: South Africa's mine owners flex their muscles

The country's famous system of collective wage-bargaining, virtually unchanged for five decades, is itself being challenged, as employers seek more flexible settlements negotiated by individual companies and their workers.

ECONOMIST: Germany

"We're very happy that the teacher evaluation system is ensconced inside the collective bargaining process, " Mulgrew said.

WSJ: Deal ensures NY teacher-evaluations don't expire

With the NFL allowed to impose its restraints through an impasse in bargaining and seemingly free to impose their system on the players as long as the players had a collective bargaining agent (union), Upshaw decided to have the players become antitrust litigants rather than union members.

FORBES: How The Decertification Option Fits Into Players' Plan to Fight NFL

It also stops short of legislating a specific evaluation system, which preserves the union's collective bargaining rights.

WSJ: Cuomo: State Might Impose Evaluations

The entire system of employee health insurance emerged because of direct federal support for unions and collective bargaining during the formative decades of the 1940s, 50s, and 60s.

CNN: Commentary: Don't cut our (public) health care

As it gobbled up bakeries across the country, Hostess wound up with 372 collective-bargaining agreements, 40 multi-employer pension plans, 5, 500 delivery routes and a vast production system.

WSJ: Twinkie Maker Hostess Brands, Unions Face Off Over New Batch of Cuts