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The Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu) will embark on a nationwide stay on Wednesday (October 7).
Cosatu has asked its more than 1.8 million members and other workers across the country to stay home in support of the action due to the impact of the coronavirus pandemic.
“We are calling for this action under Covid-19 lockdown alert level one regulations. This means that we have a responsibility not to undermine the fight against this deadly coronavirus that has killed so many of our compatriots, ”the trade federation said in a statement Monday.
Cosatu said he will also call socially distancing pickets and caravans in the nine provinces and in many identified towns and cities.
“This decentralization of our activities will ensure that workers are involved and everyone can participate across the country, but also that our activities do not spread this deadly virus,” he said.
In a series of messages on social networks, Cosatu said that he will be meeting in various parts of the country starting at 08:00.
Some of the meeting points and routes include:
- Deputy Secretary General Solly Phetoe will lead the strike in the northwest since Rustenburg taxi rank, where the workers will meet and march to the Municipality from 09:00;
- General Secretary Bheki Ntshalintshali will lead a march in Limpopo, with workers gathered in SABC Park and goes to the Department of Labor from 08:00;
- President Zingiwa Losi will lead the strike in Praetorship since Burgerspark from 08h00, with a caravan that leads to the offices of the National Treasury;
- National Treasurer Freda Oosthysen will lead the strike in Cape Town with workers gathered in Near the multipurpose sports center starting at 07:00 and a caravan leaving for the city center;
- Vice President Louise Thipe will lead the strike in Durban with workers meeting from 08:00 on Curry fountain and head to a park at St. Benedicts School;
- Vice President Mike Shingange will lead the strike in Mbombela, Mpumalanga with workers meeting from 08:00 on Mbombela Stadium.
#COSATU President, Zingiwa Losi will lead #COSATUNationalStrike Today in Pretoria from Burgerspark starting at 08h00, with a caravan leading to the National @TreasuryRSA offices and @deptoflabour to deliver a memo @pretorianews @NCA @ Newzroom405 @SABCNews pic.twitter.com/FRpLi7cKXA
– @COSATU today (@_cosatu) October 7, 2020
The issues raised by Cosatu for the strike include:
- Lack of personal protective equipment for front-line workers;
- An emphasis on the failure of the public transportation system;
- The undermining of collective bargaining in the public service by the State;
- The general inefficiency of the state;
- The scourge of corruption in South Africa;
- The loss of some R80 billion annually due to transfer pricing manipulation;
- The looting of the Covid-19 FIU TERS Fund by employers;
- Badly managed state companies now with liquidity problems or bankrupt;
- The maximum penalty threshold that the Competition Commission can impose is inadequate;
- Continued cartel conduct;
- The amendment to Competition Law 89 of 1998 was intended to establish that directors and managers were criminally prosecuted, but so far there have been no prosecutions; Y
- The families of politicians should be prohibited from doing business with the state.
While the protest action was called by Cosatu, it also has the backing of the South African Federation of Trade Unions (Fedusa) and the National Council of Trade Unions (Nactu), all of whom are represented in Nedlac.
The dissident federation Saftu (the South African Federation of Trade Unions) is not part of Nedlac, but will also participate in Wednesday’s stay.
No job, no pay
In response to the absence, the government has instructed all departments to enforce the “no work, no pay” principle.
The Department of Administration and Public Service (DPSA) said the strike has been declared protected by Section 77 of the Labor Relations Act and that workers from all sectors of the economy can participate.
“The principle of not working should in no way be applied by the departments,” he said. “The principle should apply for absences of a full day as well as part of a working day.”
DPSA has also instructed your department to provide information on:
- The number of employees who participated in the protest action and the impact on the department at 10:00 am;
- An update of this information at 3:00 p.m.
- A full report within three days of the strike.
[PUBLIC SERVICE CIRCULAR] To all department heads: a national withdrawal strike or socio-economic strike on Wednesday, October 7, 2020. Departments must apply the principle of “No work, no pay”. #BathoPele pic.twitter.com/pnvcGzdxI1
– National DPSA (@thedpsa) October 6, 2020
Legal stay
In an analysis of the strike, the law firm Cliffe Dekker Hofmeyr said that section 77 of the Labor Relations Act (LRA) gives employees the right to engage in “protest actions to promote or defend the socioeconomic interests of employees. workers “.
In addition, article 77 (1) of the LRA establishes the procedural requirements that unions must comply with when initiating a protest under the terms of the article. These requirements are:
- The protest must be called by a registered union or a federation of unions;
- The National Council for Economic Development and Labor (Nedlac) should receive a notice of the proposed protest stating the nature and purpose of the protest;
- The matter giving rise to the proposed protest must then be considered by Nedlac or an appropriate forum;
- The union must provide NEDLAC with a notice of its intention to proceed with the proposed protest action 14 days prior to the start of the protest.
“As the protest action is authorized in terms of section 77 (2) of the LRA, persons participating in the protest action receive protection under the LRA, including protection against dismissal for participating in the protest action. Cliffe Dekker Hofmeyr said.
“The practical effect of nationwide protest action on employers is that their workforce may participate in the protest action or employees may not be able to attend work due to unavailability of public transportation.”
The firm said the action also comes at a time when many companies have recently restarted operations after the national state of disaster was announced in March 2020 and is continuing.
“Companies are therefore in a precarious position, as they cannot prevent employees from participating in the protest action, but neither can they allow their employees to be absent from work while they seek to at least recoup some of the financial losses. suffered as a result of the pandemic. “
The rand
The rand is on the defensive ahead of the strike, said Bianca Botes, CEO of Peregrine Treasury Solutions.
“The dollar gained some ground overnight after President Trump postponed talks for additional economic stimulus until after the election,” he said.
“At the local level, a national strike will take place today, as unions join forces to protest against unemployment and corruption, among other issues.”
At 7:20 am on Wednesday, the rand was trading at the following levels:
- Dollar / Rand: R16.63 (-0.58%)
- Pound / Rand: R21.43 (-0.50%)
- Euro / Rand: R19.51 (-0.61%)
Additional comments from Imraan Mahomed, Riola Kok and Nomathole Nhlapo from Cliffe Dekker Hofmeyr’s Labor Law practice.
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