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City Press reports that the new trade union federation, spearheaded by leaders expelled from labour federation Cosatu, last week released lists of its signed-up members as well as potential future affiliates.
The still-unnamed federation has 21 signed-up unions, representing a total of 684,865 workers, thus already making it SA’s second-largest labour grouping. It may absorb more unions from Cosatu as well as from Nactu. Zwelinzima Vavi, the expelled former general secretary of Cosatu, and now the convenor of the new federation’s steering committee, maintained that it intended to swell its ranks by unionising the majority of workers who did not belong to unions at all, especially at the low-paid end of the labour market.
For the time being, Numsa and Fawu will dominate the new federation as the two ex-Cosatu unions’ combined memberships make up 68% of the total membership. A notable absence is the Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union (Amcu). And the absence of Solidarity, a very active independent union with a largely white membership, is sad, said Vavi. The founding congress of the new federation is planned to begin on 21 April and will involve about 1,800 delegates.
- Read this informative report by Dewald Van Rensburg in full at City Press
- Read this report in Afrikaans at Netwerk24 (limit on access)
- See too, 'New trade federation to look after workers who were neglected', at SABC News
Get other news reports at the SA Labour News home page