BusinessLive writes about the entrance on Friday onto the labour scene of the South African Federation of Trade Unions (Saftu), the second-largest labour federation after the ANC-aligned Cosatu.  

The entry of the federation will lead to heightened competition for union membership in workplaces across the economy.  Saftu is set to launch in Gauteng with a membership of nearly 700,000.  The Federation of Unions of SA (Fedusa) has just over 550,000 and the National Council of Trade Unions (Nactu) has 400,000.  Cosatu has 1.2-million members.  Two former Cosatu affiliates, the National Union of Metalworkers of SA (Numsa) and the Food and Allied Workers Union (Fawu), are the new federation’s largest affiliates.  It was registered by the Department of Labour on 31 March and consists of 23 affiliates, with an additional 16 unions in the wings, pending affiliation.  The politically independent new federation’s focus will largely be on worker issues.

• Read this report by Natasha Marrian in full at BusinessLive
• See too, Tighten your seat belts, says Vavi about new labour federation, at Fin24

Get other news reports at the SA Labour News home page