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Members of Cosatu outside the Casa Cosatu in Braamfontein before heading to the South African Minerals Council headquarters. (Photo: Shiraaz Mohamed)
On Wednesday, four labor federations deployed their combined workforce and embarked on a nationwide strike, with Cosatu hinting that it will withdraw its electoral support for the ANC if it cannot immediately engage in serious work-related discussions.
“The cabinet ministers we elect do not fight for the workers. Those we choose do not want to comply. We are not marching against ourselves. Any such suggestion is wrong. We march against the people we elect to power. We are saying that we will in fact retain our vote if we do not participate in immediate discussions. “
This was said by the president of Cosatu in Gauteng, Amos Monyela, speaking outside Cosatu House in Johannesburg on Wednesday. Hundreds of Cosatu-affiliated union members marched from Cosatu House through downtown Johannesburg on their way to deliver a memorandum at the Mineral Council SA head office.
“The burning question we need to focus on is whether we still have to vote for the ANC. Every five years we put a government in charge, but someone else pulls the strings, leading to the current problems we face, including gender-based violence, corruption and job losses, ”said Monyela.
“We are currently voting for the ANC, that is a decision of Congress. That is our current position as Cosatu. As things are now, we have a resolution to vote for the ANC, but we must have a decision, that’s all we are saying. “
In a day of combined national protest action in all nine provinces, Cosatu was joined by other federations: the South African Federation of Trade Unions, the National Council of Trade Unions and the South African Federation of Trade Unions.
A member of Cosatu read from the memo: “We are gathered here to express, on behalf of millions of workers and ordinary people, anger, frustration and united solidarity against the horrible conditions we all face.”
He continued: “We stand firm to express our anger and disappointment at the lack of care, support and protection from front-line co-workers, who put their lives at risk to save us all from the scourge of the Covid-19 pandemic. Unfortunately, we have lost several of them in this pandemic, because we put the profits and interests of the rich before those of the workers and the poor ”.
In the memorandum, Cosatu made the following points:
- “Occupational health and safety: when workers sell their work they don’t sell their lives. However, often the risk of non-compliance with health and safety measures lies with the employees.
- “Corruption: This is a fight against greed, parasitism and institutionalized profit at the expense of the poor and the workers.
- “On the fight against layoffs and the end of the unemployment crisis: We call on the state and the mining industries to take seriously the crisis we face, particularly unemployment and hunger.
- “On the fight against the scourge of gender violence and the gender pay gap: we reaffirm our determination to campaign tirelessly for the government to ratify ILO Convention 190, which clearly establishes both the crime of sexual harassment and the steps and actions needed to address it properly.
- On the fight to end sustained attacks on collective bargaining and workers ‘rights in general: Never in our history, since apartheid, have we seen the levels of attacks on bargaining and workers’ rights in the way we are exposed on a daily basis. “
The memorandum also called for the provision of sufficient personal protective equipment (PPE) for all front-line workers and the elimination of the gender pay gap in all workplaces.
The strike comes as South Africa and the world are grappling with the devastation caused by the Covid-19 pandemic, and as the workforce stumbles out of an economic crisis of significant proportions.
In response to those who questioned the timing of the attack, Monyela said that this is never a good time when it comes to stomach issues. He said workers are hungry and need to feed their families.
“How do you calculate the stomach fight?” Monyela asked.
“How do you expect us to wait when people are looting Covid-19 relief funds, but the whole world is under so much pressure from the pandemic?”
South African Federation of Trade Unions (Fedusa) spokesman Frank Nxumalo said: “We are here to join our sister federation Cosatu because the issues they are raising here are cross-cutting issues and they affect us all as a working class. However, like Fedusa, our main problem is corruption.
“Our colleagues are front-line workers in the fight against the Covid-19 pandemic, and corruption has deprived our members of proper personal protective equipment. As a workforce, we have a direct interest in what is happening as it affects the way we care for patients. “
Personal protective equipment for front-line workers in the medical profession has been a controversial topic, with reports of widespread corruption in the award of tenders.
Patience Phirwa, a nurse at Charlotte Maxeke Hospital in Johannesburg, said:
“We had to perform our duties without protection. Charlotte Maxeke was a high risk hospital, but we still have a shortage of PPE. We are saying like Denosa [the Democratic Nursing Organisation of South Africa]especially nurses who have faced death on a daily basis, we are fed up.
“The working conditions are very scary. We are not valued as nurses in this country. We are only driven by our commitment to serving our communities. Laundry nurses work in hazardous conditions where they constantly come into contact with dirty clothes and without adequate protection ”.
Phirwa said there were not even antibiotics at the hospital for discharged patients to take home. He said that patients were given Panado, but that even this was not available at times.
He said they have yet to receive their annual raise, which is due in April, even though this money is already budgeted. She said nurses receive a uniform annual allowance of R2,200, which is not enough, and they buy their own PPE.
The strike took place in the big cities of South Africa. Unions affiliated with Cosatu said that the issues Cosatu complained about were interrelated and that the union federation needed the support of all workers.
Police and Prisons Union (Popcru) spokesman Richard Mamabolo said: “The issue of corruption has had a disastrous effect on job creation and the proper functioning of state institutions. This has created job losses and has diminished the faith of the population in the country’s criminal justice system, as not much has been done about it so far ”.
Jessica Mathebula, Denosa treasurer in Gauteng, added her voice:
“What the nurses demand is not unreasonable. We are on the front line, but the government has left us to our [own devices] even though we look down the barrel of the gun every day. “
Many businesses in downtown Johannesburg had to shut down temporarily when protest members left Cosatu House, chanting and singing as they marched peacefully through the city. DM
This article was amended on Thursday, October 8 at 10 am to reflect the combined nature of the protest action that included four federations.
