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Ernest Mabusa writes that it is unlikely government will be galvanised to immediately respond to the Congress of South African Trade Unions’ (Cosatu’s) demands made during its national day of action on Thursday.
This was the view expressed by analysts as Cosatu held 12 marches nationwide protesting rising levels of unemployment, wage cuts, poverty and inequality. Among the union federation’s demands was that government raise the R350 social relief of distress grant to the food poverty line of R663 in the October mini budget, and that it should extend the presidential employment stimulus to accommodate one million active participants in October 2023 and two million in February 2024. Political analyst Piet Croucamp said government would not be able to meet Cosatu’s demands in the short term: “Government will say they want to address the issues raised by Cosatu but can only address them if resources are available and there is strong economic growth.” He said the march was a way for Cosatu to show its strength, but this was difficult as only about 12% of workers belonged to unions. Noting that it was a political strike under section 77 of the Labour Relations Act, labour analyst Andrew Levy commented that Cosatu achieved a number of things by such strikes: “They give membership something to focus on. The best way is to build unity. It does set a ‘them and us’ situation. It engenders solidarity.” Levy said the strike was also a way unions could show government that “look at us we are strong and we carry weight”. Political analyst Ralph Mathekga said Cosatu had to be seen by its membership to be doing something about the problems facing the workers and its demands were reasonable. He expressed the hope that the march was complementing other efforts Cosatu was making within the tripartite alliance. “The reality is they are sitting within the tripartite alliance and there is a lot they should have achieved within,” he commented.
- Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Ernest Mabuza at TimesLIVE Premium (subscriber access only)
- Read too, Cosatu leader tells government to listen to union demands or face the results at the polls next year, at GroundUp
Get other news reports at the SA Labour News home page