The National Association of Bargaining Councils (NABC) was formed in 1993 to unite industrial councils and serve as a platform to articulate common challenges faced by both labour and business representatives.

Amendments to the Labour Relations Act (LRA) of 1995 greatly changed the face of industrial councils (now known as bargaining councils) by significantly increasing their role and power. The NABC played a leading role in the implementation of these amendments and unsured that its member councils were geared for these significant changes.

The NABC embraced its role as a catalyst for the effective implementation of the amendments and conducted a number of training interventions to ensure that member councils were ready and adequately capacitated to execute their new duties in line with the amendments. Training was sponsored by the Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration (CCMA), a key indicator of the NABC’s status in the South African labour relations field.