The Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu) issued a statement that they were finalizing arrangements to embark on a nationwide stay away on Thursday (7 October).
Workers will be protesting against corruption, retrenchments, high levels of unemployment, gender-based violence and what they call an attack on collective bargaining.
Due to the pandemic, workers have been asked to stay home rather than gather. “We remind workers that this strike is taking place under Covid-19 restrictions, and we urge all our members and the broader society to continue to take precautions. We encourage them to vaccinate because this pandemic can only be defeated through unity and cooperation.” said Cosatu.
Cosatu said that it will demand urgent action from policymakers in the government as well as decision-makers in the private sector to stop attacks that are directed at workers. “Both the public and the private sector have been blatantly undermining collective bargaining,” the union said.
Some of the other demands include:
- The reversal of budget cuts that have led to an unacceptable wage freeze in the public service, the disintegration of the CCMA, and retrenchments in state-owned companies.
- Calling on the private sector to abandon its investment strike that has seen many companies either hoarding or exporting cash out of the country, despite receiving generous incentives to invest back into the economy.
- The abandonment of austerity measures and budget cuts in the 2022 Medium Term Budget Policy Statement (MTBPS) to be presented in November.
Sources: BusinessTech, MSN
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