The Citizen reports that the National Union of Metalworkers of SA (Numsa) and the Chemical Energy Paper Printing Wood and Allied Workers’ Union (Ceppwawu) have called on the government to “immediately put a stop to retrenchments at PetroSA.”

If PetroSA’s retrenchments continue, 900 of its staff will have lost their jobs, according to an eNCA report. According to the SA Federation of Trade Unions (Saftu), after the cuts there will only be 300 staff left, who will be absorbed by the “strategic partner in the private sector”. Numsa and Ceppwawu also want Mineral Resources and Energy Minister Gwede Mantashe to stand up to International Oil Companies for allegedly abusing their import licences and undermining SA’s manufacturing capacity. “As unions organising in the petroleum sector and refineries in particular, we have been left with no option but to call on government to intervene and put a stop to the greed of International Oil Companies (IOC’s) who are de-industrializing our country by closing local refineries and importing petrol and diesel, destroying workers’ jobs,” the unions indicated in a joint statement.

• Read the full original of the report in the above regard at The Citizen

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