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The Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu) will embark on a massive strike on Wednesday (October 7) as part of an ongoing dispute with the government.
However, unlike the more traditional strikes that have been seen in the country, Cosatu has asked its members to stay home in support of the action due to the impact of the coronavirus pandemic.
Cosatu is the largest trade federation in the country with an estimated membership of 1.8 million workers.
“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.
While the strike action will focus primarily on the wage dispute with the government, Cosatu said the federation also wants additional support for frontline workers and better governance.
Some of the other complaints and lawsuits that Cosatu has raised include:
- Cosatu said that it is impossible to solve serious economic challenges without addressing important problems such as transportation in the country. The trade federation said transportation is key to dismantling apartheid’s separate development system and eliminating apartheid’s spatial challenges. The current failure of inadequate public transportation reflects the failures of the overall economic system, he said.
- State-owned enterprises: Urgent action must be taken to repair and merge the country’s ailing state-owned enterprises and also to reverse the current export of South African capital. There are currently millions being taken out of the country sometimes illegally, Cosatu said, adding that the Reserve Bank needs to explore measures that include capital controls and penalize financial speculation.
- Gender-based violence -The increasing levels of gender-based violence in the country require decisive action. Cosatu said the government should push for legislative reform and introduce mandatory minimum sentences so that cases of gender violence act as a deterrent.
- The Covid-19 FIU TERS Fund has been looted by many employers who have not paid the money to relevant workers, leaving many families struggling to put food on the table, he said.
“Sustained acts of civil disobedience are paramount at this time because sitting down and doing nothing will mean that we accept the death sentence imposed on us by the political and corporate power structure that is mismanaging the economy and attacking workers’ rights. Cosatu said.
“We have to refuse to be fooled by empty commitments and public statements, but we demand action and effectiveness from our leaders.”
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