COSATU Today 16 September 2009
Patrick Craven
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Published by the Congress of South African Trade Unions
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Tel. 011 339 4911 Fax. 086 603 9667
COSATU’s Spokesperson is: Patrick Craven
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- COSATU Today -
Our side of the story
Wednesday 16 September 2009
CONTENTS
1.1 Clothing employers table revised wage offer
1.2 Thousands of clothing workers embark on national wage strike
2.1 NEHAWU leads women empowerment
2.2 DENOSA congratulates Presidency on launching hotline
2.3 NEHAWU demands the immediate suspension of Ivor Blumenthal, CEO of the Services SETA
2.4 COSATU Congress media coverage
2.5 COSATU 10TH National Congress Programme
3.1 Passing away of Cde Juan Almeida Bosque
1 Workers
1.1 Clothing employers table revised wage offer
Andre Kriel, SACTWU General Secretary, 16 September 2009
Yesterday 15 September 2009, 55 000 clothing workers embarked on a national wage strike in support of their wage demands. The clothing employers met at a national meeting of their negotiating team yesterday afternoon and have this morning submitted a written revised wage offer to the trade union. In brief, the offer is for an 8% wage increase tightly linked to certain conditions.
Their previous wage offer was a 5% wage increase which amounted to between R19 and R32 per week. The union is demanding a 7.9% wage increase for metro area workers with the same rand amount for non-metro area workers. The union demand equates to a weekly wage increase of between R45 and R50.
This is a preliminary statement by the union in response the employers' revised offer:
SACTWU is in the process of analysing the detail of the employers' revised offer. We will be consulting with our regions and branches throughout the country for the most part of this morning. We will issue a more detailed press statement about our response by about lunch-time today. In the interim, the strike will continue today.
1.2 Thousands of clothing workers embark on national wage strike
Andre Kriel, SACTWU General Secretary, 15 September 2009
The clothing industry came to a standstill today as tens of thousands of members of the Southern African Clothing & Textile Workers' Union (SACTWU) commenced a national wage strike in support of their wage demands.
The strike commenced early this morning, when workers started the day with general meetings at their workplaces. By between 09h00 - 09h30 they had clocked out, held brief protest actions in front of their workplaces and then dispersed to go home because the union had called for the strike action to be in the form of a stayaway from work today.
By 12h30 today, the trade union had completed a survey to measure the extent of support for the strike. Nationally, a total of 336 factories jointly employing about 33 000 workers were surveyed. The preliminary outcome indicates close to 90% support for the strike. Extrapolating this result nationally, it means that about 55 000 clothing workers have embarked on national strike action today. This shows a massive rejection of the employers' wage proposals and solid support for the union's demand for a decent wage increase for clothing workers.
In the meantime, employers have issued a lock-out notice late on Sunday evening. The notice comes into effect this evening at 22h00. The purpose of the lockout is to force clothing workers to accept the employers' offer.
Clothing employers are meeting this afternoon to discuss their way forward. Last Friday, the trade union offered to suspend its strike action to allow for a further voluntary conciliation meeting tomorrow, but the employers have regretably declined to take up this offer (their precondition was that we should not embark on action today) and are only expected to discuss whether or not they should do so at their meeting later this afternoon. Whatever happens in their meeting later today, it appears that it would be too late to set up any proper logistics for such a voluntary conciliation meeting tomorrow given that employers are only due to decide later today on whether or not to accept the offer of a suspension of the strike action and a further conciliation meeting.
Clothing employers are currently offering a weekly wage increase of between R19 and R32 per week. This is equal to a 5% wage increase. But even this low offer is conditional on clothing workers agreeing to forfeit overtime- and other normal earnings for any form of absenteeism, even where such absenteeism is legally authorised. The trade union is demanding a 7.9% wage increase.
Wage negotiations started as far back as April this year and the new wage increase was due on 1 September 2009. The trade union is of the view that its demands are reasonable and affordable, that it now only resorts to strike action as a last option because negotiations cannot continue inconclusively forever. Clothing workers are the lowest paid employees in the whole of the South Africa Manufacturing sector.
In the run up to the strike, the trade union had conducted a strike ballot among 46 600 clothing workers nationally, of whom 92% voted in favour of strike action in pursuit of their wage demands.
2 South Africa
2.1 NEHAWU leads women empowerment
Sizwe Pamla, NEHAWU Media Liaison Officer, 15 September 2009
NEHAWU congratulates its more than 200 women shop-stewards and members who will be graduating at the University of Western Cape in Cape Town this Wednesday, 16 September 2009. This is one example of how NEHAWU is committed to empirical women empowerment.
In 2006, NEHAWU, initiated and fully funded a programme to enroll its women shop-stewards and members for a three-year programme in Economic Development at the University of the Western Cape. All members who enrolled in the programme are women who were recruited from across the provinces. The aim of the programme was to expand the pool of leaders within the union, increase leadership capacity and achieve gender equity at all levels of the union.
A total of 207 of these recruits have completed a Higher Certificate in Economic Development and will be part of about 1 000 students from the Faculty of Management at the University of Western Cape that will be graduating, on Wednesday, 16 September 2009.
The graduation ceremony will be addressed by the Minister of Women, Children and Persons with Disabilities, Ms. Noluthando Mayende-Sibiya, who during her tenure as the president of NEHAWU was at the forefront of the launch of this project.
Ms. Noluthando Mayende-Sibiya was the first woman president of a trade union in South Africa {NEHAWU} and the union remains dedicated to attaining gender equality targets and taking the lead at implementing programmes aimed at the total emancipation of women.
You are invited to attend the graduation ceremony which takes place as follows:
DATE : 16 September 2009
TIME : 18H00
VENUE : Great Hall, University of Western Cape
2.2 DENOSA congratulates Presidency on launching hotline
Asanda Fongqo, DENOSA Communications Officer, 16 September 2009
The Democratic Nursing Organisation of South Africa congratulates the Presidency on launching the Presidential hotline on Monday September 14, 2009.
To us this underlines government’s commitment to rendering quality service to people and further emphasizes the developmental agenda that the government led by President Zuma champions.
We are confident that this hotline that serves as direct interaction between government and our people will go a long way in exerting continuous pressure to authorities with regards to service delivery.
DENOSA is also encouraged by the huge volume of calls that have been received thus far as this confirms that the public is already making use of the hotline.
2.3 NEHAWU demands the immediate suspension of Ivor Blumenthal, CEO of the Services SETA
Sizwe Pamla, NEHAWU Media Liaison Officer, 15 September 2009
NEHAWU is angered and disgusted by the harassment, victimization and the selective targeting of its members by the management at Services SETA and demands an immediate investigation and the intervention of the Minister of Labour and of Higher Education and Training. The union vows to fight the racist, anti unionist and anti transformation tendencies that are prevalent at the Services SETA.
The Mafia style management of the Services SETA under the stewardship of Ivor Blumenthal is not acceptable and will be totally opposed by the union. The Seta has been run like a personal fiefdom by a cabal of individuals who are using bribery, cronyism, and intimidation to instill fear to employees.
NEHAWU is planning to challenge this harassment of its members by the management who over the last few years have used restructuring as a tactic to kick out a number of black workers especially those who are close to the union. The union also believes that managers who preside over these institutions that fail to implement transformation have to account for their failures. We therefore demand that the CEO, Ivor Blumenthal, HR Director, TJ van der Merwe and HR Manager, Bonita Brider be suspended while the investigation takes place. This precautionary suspension is necessitated by the high probability by all of them to interfere with the objects of investigation including witnesses under their supervision at work.
We demand that an investigation be conducted to investigate the following issues:
- Investigation to the yearly restructuring programme at the SETA that has resulted in a number of black employees being made redundant and then replaced by white workers. We want to know what informed the process of restructuring because there were no economic or operational reasons given for it.
- Why it is that 3 black employees were placed on paid leave and then 6 inexperienced white workers were elevated to fill their positions and a black female manager was replaced by an inexperienced white male colleague who was subsequently replaced by a white female employee.
- We also want an investigation to the allegations that the management violated recruitment processes by failing to publicly and internally advertise vacant posts which were subsequently filled by white employees.
- We want to know why the Services SETA still refuses to recognize the union {NEHAWU} as the rightful and legal representative of its members in the workplace even after the union had proved that it is sufficiently representative as per the Labour Relations Act {LRA}.
- We want to know why managers at the SETA fail to use the Performance Management System when they evaluate the performance of members but use the feelings of the CEO. Some of our members claim that they were offered severance packages by their superiors who said the reasons for the offer was that the CEO felt they did not fit in with the organization. These members were told to accept the offer or face dismissal.
- We also demand an investigation on Salary discrepancies between black and white employees.
- We want to know why the Human Resources Manager was encouraging employees to join a proposed workers forum that was to be formed by the management when employees had already exercised their democratic right to join a trade union of their choice.
- We also demand an investigation into the practice of consistently outsourcing various functions to one service provider, resulting in a loss of jobs.
- We demand that the CEO, Ivor Blumenthal, explains his statement that was directed to workers especially those who wanted to join the union that he knew where their children went to school. This to us is nothing more than an intimidation tactic of the apartheid era to scare workers and coerce them into submission and has got no place in the new South Africa.
These bullying tactics will not break the resolve of the workers to fight for their rights and to demand equal treatment of all workers. NEHAWU as a progressive union is going to take this fight with all the might of the working class to emancipate these workers from the shackles of oppression.
2.4 COSATU Congress media coverage
Patrick Craven, COSATU National Spokesperson, 15 September 2009
The COSATU 10th National Congress will be covered by the media, as follows:
- SABC TV will cover the Monday morning (21 September) opening and Thursday closing sessions live, broadcast its 13h00 news programme from the Congress and produce its Tuesday evening current affairs show in the Congress.
- SABC Radio will broadcast its AM Live, Midday Live and PM Live shows from the Congress on all four days.
- ETV News Channel (Chanel 403 on DSTV) will provide extended live coverage of the opening, the Secretariat report and the debates that follow.
- City Press is to produce a daily Congress Special for the delegates
- Independent Newspapers are to produce a special supplement on Monday and a wrap-around The Star on Tuesday.
- The COSATU website will be providing live video streaming of the entire congress on www.cosatu.org.za
§ Well over 200 media people have applied for accreditation, so there is bound to be wide coverage in other newspapers and community and commercial radio stations.
2.5 COSATU 10TH National Congress Programme |
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First Day: 21 September 2009 |
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In the chair: Salome Sithole – SADTU Vice President |
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1. Opening |
09:00 |
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2. POPCRU choir singing the National Anthem, the Internationale and Solidarity forever! |
09:05 – 09:20 |
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3. Presentation of the Credentials report |
09:20 – 09:30 |
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4. Confirmation of the agenda |
09:20 – 09:30 |
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5. Minutes of the ninth national congress |
09:30 – 09:45 |
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6. Acknowledgement of all the previous recipients of Elijah Barayi Award and former NOBs |
09:50 – 10:00 |
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7. Acknowledgement of invited organisations sponsors and institutions |
10:00 – 10:20 |
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8. National Congress roll-call |
10:20 – 10:30 |
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9. Live cultural item Phinda and POPCRU sings the God Bless Africa |
10:30 – 10:40 |
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10. Opening address by the COSATU President, Sidumo Dlamini |
10:40 – 11:25 |
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11. Process to elect the new COSATU NOBs |
11:25 – 11:30 |
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12. Address by the SACP General Secretary, Blade Nzimande |
11:30 – 12:10 |
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13. Keynote address by the ANC President, Jacob Zuma |
12:10 – 13:00 |
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Lunch |
13:00 – 14:00 |
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Political Session |
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In the chair: Sidumo Dlamini – COSATU President |
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14. Message of solidarity from Nelson Mandela |
14:00 – 14:15 |
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15. Political report by the General Secretary |
14:00 – 15:00 |
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16. Debate of the secretariat political report and affiliates political resolutions |
15:00 – 18:30 |
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17. Congress adjourns |
18:30 |
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18. Launching of the Violet Seboni Trust – a fundraising dinner with Phinda singing |
19:00 – 21:00 |
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Second Day: 22 September 2009 |
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In the chair: Ntombizakhe Mcaba – POPCRU Vice President |
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1. Address by the President of South African Confederation of Trade Unions (SACOTU), Joseph Maqhekeni |
09:00 – 09:10 |
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2. Address by the Deputy President of the Republic of SA, Kgalema Motlanthe |
09:10 – 09:45 |
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3. Presentation of Elijah Barayi Awards |
09:45 – 10:15 |
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4. Debate of the secretariat political report and affiliates political resolutions continues |
10:15 – 13:00 |
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Lunch |
13:00 – 14:00 |
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Organisational Session |
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In the chair: Salome Sithole – SADTU Vice President |
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5. Presentation of the organisational report, by the General Secretary and the Deputy General Secretary |
14:00 – 15:00 |
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6. Presentation of the audited statements and financial report by the General Secretary |
15:00 – 15:30 |
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7. Debate of the secretariat organisational report and affiliates organisational resolutions |
15:30 – 19:00 |
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Supper |
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8. Lusanda sings and screening of the film on global economic crises |
19:00 – 21:00 |
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Third Day: 23 September 2009 |
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In the chair: Sidumo Dlamini – COSATU President |
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1. Address by the General Secretary of the ITUC, Guy Ryder |
09:00 – 09:30 |
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2. Address by the President of SANGOCO, Jimmy Gotyana |
09:30 – 09:45 |
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3. Debate of the secretariat organisational report and affiliates organisational resolutions continues |
09:45 – 11:30 |
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Socio Economic Report |
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4. Presentation of the socio-economic report |
11:30 – 13:00 |
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Lunch |
13:00 – 14:00 |
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In the chair: Ntombizakhe Mcaba – POPCRU Vice President |
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5. Debate of the secretariat socio economic report and the affiliates socio-economic resolutions |
14:00 – 16:45 |
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International Session |
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6. Address by the President of the Nigerian Labour Congress, Abdulwahed Ibrahim Omar |
16:45 – 17:00 |
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7. Address by the WFTU General, George Mavrikos |
17:00 – 17:15 |
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8. Presentation of the awards Elijah Barayi Awards to international guests |
17:15 – 17:45 |
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9. Presentation of the international report |
17:45 – 18:30 |
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10. Debate of the secretariat international report and affiliates international resolutions |
18:30 – 19:00 |
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13. Cultural Evening with Busi Mhlongo and Freshly Ground |
19:00 – 00:00 |
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Supper |
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Fourth Day: 24 September 2009 |
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In the chair: Salome Sithole – SADTU Vice President |
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1. Address by the ITUC-Africa region, Kwasi Adu-Amankwah |
09:00 – 09:30 |
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2. Debate of the secretariat international report and affiliates international resolutions continues |
09:30 – 12:45 |
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3. Adoption of the secretariat report |
12:45 – 13:00 |
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Lunch |
13:00 – 14:00 |
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On the chair: Sidumo Dlamini – COSATU President |
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4. The 10th National Congress declaration |
14:00 – 14:30 |
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5. Announcement of the NOBs election results |
14:30 – 15:00 |
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6. The newly elected NOBs pledge |
15:00 – 15:15 |
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7. Closing Address by the new COSATU President |
15:15 – 15:30 |
3 International
3.1 Passing away of Cde Juan Almeida
Bosque
Che Matlhako and Clever Banganayi, FOCUS-SA, 15 September 2009
The Friends of Cuba Society (FOCUS-SA), a volunteer solidarity movement with the peoples’ and Revolution of Cuba, is shocked and saddened by the news of the sudden and unexpected passing of cde Juan Almeida Bosque over the weekend.
Cde Almeida Bosque was one of the leading figures of the July 26 Movement, which successfully overthrew the Batista-dictatorship in January of 1959.
He, through his commitment and dedication to the course of freedom and sovereignty for Cuba, threw himself into the realm of the popular progressive forces, which sought through non-violent ways to make a change in Cuba, was thwarted and arrested together with Fidel and Raul Castro and imprisoned on the Isle of Youth. Upon their release three years, through widespread demonstrations demanding their release, cde Juan Almeida and the core of the group which had participated in the attacks on Moncada and Cespedes garrisons, went into exile in Mexico, where upon they met Che Guevara.
This heralded a new chapter in the struggle for liberation and sovereignty in Cuba.
Since the triumph of the Revolution, cde Juan Aleida has held various leading positions in both the state and the Communist Party of Cuba. He symbolized the new Cuban nation which transcended the racial prejudices, which are so obvious in many capitalists society.
Like Fidel said; “I think that confronting death was for him a duty like all of those that he fulfilled throughout his life; he did not know, nor did we, how much sadness the news of his physical absence would bring to us”.
Our heartfelt condolences go to his family, companeros y companeras, and to the Cuban people and the Revolution!
‘Victory or Death’
