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COSATU Marches to Commemorate Interntional Day of Decent Work

by Thaabit Kamaar

COSATU Marching in Johannesburg. Photo by [Businesslive]

On Friday, the Congress of South African Trade unions held marches in all the major cities in South Africa to commemorate International Day of Decent Work. The purpose of the protests was to demand that government and private companies adhere to and respect the labour laws of South Africa.


The march is meant to signify a continuation of the fight against the government and private sectors, which continues to undermine labour laws and workers’ rights.


Solly Phetoe, the General Secretary of COSATU, mentioned that his organization is under immense pressure from members to address the challenges, uncertainties and treatment of workers in both the public and private sectors.


The trade union has expressed grave concern about the plight of workers in both the public and private sectors concerning retrenchments, wage increases, and the high unemployment rate in South Africa.


Phetoe said the trade union had successfully corrected some areas of labour violations. However, the high unemployment rate remains one of their primary concerns, amongst the country’s issues of poverty and the rising cost of living.


In Johannesburg, hundreds of union members marched from the COSATU house in Braamfontein to nearby GAME stores, where trade union members submitted a memorandum of demands.

The memorandum of requests is a response to the announcement of Massmart, the mother company of GAME and MAKRO, that some GAME stores will close down, affecting hundreds of employees.

 

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The Custodians of the Legislation


According to Phetoe, companies tend to undermine the country’s labour laws regarding the rights and safety of employees at the workplace.


He attributes this attitude towards employees to the rampant corruption in the South African government. He mentioned that if the government held those companies accountable and prosecuted them for their violations, it would alleviate many workers’ difficulties.


“It’s getting worse because the issues that we raised and the issue of the custodian of the legislation and Constitution, who’s supposed to lead by example, are part of those people who are undermining the laws of this country.”

 

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Continue the Fight


Phetoe  believes spontaneous protests have not had the desired effect on those in power. The government remains silent on the issues that are affecting workers. Issues such as low wages, planned retrenchments and poor working environments.


“There is a lot of pressure from our side. We think that we will be able to deal with these issues and we will manage to win some of these issues. At some stage, we will talk and sit down [with union federations] and ask what’s next. How do we deal with these issues? Because it clearly shows that one day and a half day strikes don’t get any response from them.”


He hopes that one day, COSATU and other trade unions will be able to conduct daily demonstrations, eventually leading to a national shutdown. The kind of marches which will continue until the trade union affiliates get a positive response from the government and companies in both sectors regarding the conditions of workers in the country.


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