GroundUp reports that the Southern African Clothing and Textile Workers’ Union (Sactwu) has reported that 74% of users of the union’s clinics are vaccinated against Covid, which is more than double the national average.

The union indicated in a statement that 25,107 people registered in the union clinic system had received their vaccines, out of a total of 33,906 people. In February 2021, Sactwu released a ten-point plan to promote vaccination against Covid, which included educating shop stewards and workers on the benefits of vaccination, dispelling popular anti-vaccination myths, and using the union and factory clinics to administer vaccines to workers. Then in April, Sactwu and clothing employers signed a Covid-19 Vaccination Rollout Campaign Framework Agreement, which set out a plan to encourage vaccination among clothing and textile workers. The goal was to reach an “industry immunity target”, namely an 80% worker vaccination rate. According to Sactwu general secretary André Kriel, 320 Sactwu members have been admitted to hospital with Covid, and 56 have died from Covid-related causes. Of the hospital admissions, 92% were unvaccinated workers and just 1% were fully vaccinated. None of those who died from Covid-related causes were fully vaccinated. On 29 November, labour federation Cosatu, to which Sactwu is affiliated, announced support for workplace vaccination mandates, citing fears among vaccinated workers that their unvaccinated colleagues were endangering their colleagues.

• Read the full original of the report in the above regard by James Stent at GroundUp

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