Taking COSATU Today Forward Special Bulletin, 10 February 2016
Norman Mampane
Taking COSATU Today Forward Special Bulletin
‘Whoever sides with the revolutionary people in deed as well as in word is a revolutionary in the full sense’-Mao
Our side of the story
Wednesday 10 February 2016
‘Unity and Cohesion of COSATU to Advance the National Democratic Revolution’
COSATU Cares!
Contents
Workers Parliament: Back to Basics!
Ø COSATU calls for the boycott of the Multi Aircraft Services and for the investigation of its racist owner
South Africa
Ø Open Letter: Retailers in-store Sales and Specials
Ø ConCourt case important to support our maturing democracy
International-Workers’ Solidarity!
Ø SACP condemns the murderous regime of Turkey for its genocide of the Kurdish people
Ø Refugee teachers face threat of losing basic rights
Workers’ Parliament!-Back to Basics…
COSATU calls for the boycott of the Multi Aircraft Services and for the investigation of its racist owner
Sizwe Pamla, COSATU National Spokesperson, 9 February 2016
The Congress of South African Trade Unions calls for an investigation of the owner of Multi Aircraft Services, Mr Sandro Strimer, who is accused of using racial insults against his employees.
The Sowetan newspaper today reported of an employee, who ended up quitting his job after suffering racial abuse at the ends of his employer, Mr Strimer. The department of labour, police and the Human Rights Commission should investigate this case and take appropriate steps against the alleged perpetrator.
As a society , we need to actively campaign and push back against these close minded bigots , who think South Africa is a zoo , where they can pursue their racist agenda without any consequences. We are also calling for the boycott of his business, Multi Aircraft Services. He should be named and shamed for his vulgar , bigoted and incendiary language and bullying of workers.
COSATU calls on all South Africans to take it upon themselves to expose and speak out against racism.
We also warn all white supremacists that if they continue to visit upon people things they cannot bear, it will all end up in tears. No one should be allowed to grant himself a social licence to spew their prejudiced venom on innocent workers and end up compromising their livelihoods.
Those architects of decay, who are rejecting change in this country, are welcome to leave, but they will not be allowed to violate our laws, insult black people and spit in the graves of those ,who paid the ultimate prize in the fight against racial oppression in this country. All those, who continue to idealise or are nostalgic about the criminal past that is represented by the racist apartheid regime, have a choice to make.
They either change their attitudes or will have to find another corner of the world, where such barbarism is tolerated.
COSATU reiterates its position that without any fundamental change in the economic structure of the economy as whole, and without a change in the ownership patterns of the economy , the fight against racism will be a lost cause. Black people will continue to be victimised because of their socio-economic status.
The fight against racism starts with the fight for economic emancipation of the black majority.
Issued by COSATU
- See more at: http://www.cosatu.org.za/show.php?ID=11345#sthash.PTnAkr6F.dpuf
South Africa
Open Letter: Retailers in-store Sales and Specials
Tony Ehrenreich, COSATU Western Cape Provincial Secretary, 9 February 2016
This letter was sent individually to the following major retail stores:
SHOPRITE/CHECKERS, PICK & PAY, SPAR, OK BAZAAR, WOOLWORTHS, GAME, CHECKOUT, ELITE, MAKRO, CLICKS, DISCHEM, WINNERS
9 February 2016
Att: The CEO
Re: In-store Specials and Sales
Dear Sir/Madam
Please receive correspondence from Cosatu in relation to the access that an important constituency has to the discounted prices that the Company presents to consumers on occasion.
It has been brought to our attention that the Company has specials of reduced pricing on certain goods sold. These specials are presented at certain times of the month and provide significant relief to sections of the communities. The timing of these specials normally occur at the end of the month around the 25th which suits public servants and workers which are ordinarily paid by the 25th. The specials are then terminated and return to normal pricing by the 30th.
This trend in pricing, whilst providing a benefit for the working families, excludes those people who are dependent on SASSA grants which are paid out on the 30th and the money is effectively only available from the 1st day of the next month.
Accordingly our demand, for your consideration, would be that the specials be made effective on the last day of the month, so that all sections of the society will be able to benefit. This would have an important contribution to the poorest sections of our society that are dependent on social grants.
There were some concerns amongst Cosatu members, that the Company used this date of the 25th to consciously exclude the poorest sections of the communities. We however do not hold this cynical view to be true, as it would condemn the poorest to the worst exploitation by spaza shops.
We look forward to your urgent response to the request tabled and hope to find an accommodation of all sections of the society.
Yours faithfully
Tony Ehrenreich
COSATU Western Cape Provincial Secretary
- See more at: http://www.cosatu.org.za/show.php?ID=11348#sthash.u2sPWtCo.dpuf
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ConCourt case important to support our maturing democracy
Zizi Kodwa, ANC National Spokesperson, 9 February 2016
The African National Congress notes the application brought before the Constitutional Court today in relation to the nature and extent of powers held by the Chapter 9 institutions.
Should direct access to Constitutional Court be granted, the ANC would welcome the application as we believe the questions it raises are critical for the promotion and upholding of our institutions supporting constitutional democracy as envisaged by the Constitution.
The Chapter 9 institutions, which include amongst them the Public Protector, the Auditor General and the South African Human Rights Commission amongst others, have as the core of their founding principles strong impartiality, independence and accountability to Parliament and the public at large.
For an example, the Constitution bestows upon the Public Protector the powers to investigate and report on any alleged improper conduct in the state and to take remedial action. Such was done by the Public Protector in relation to her report on the security upgrades at President Zuma`s homestead. In fulfilment of the Public Protector`s recommendations, the President then directed the Executive to confirm the modalities of complying with the recommendation contained in her report.
It is unfortunate the matter relating to the President has been negatively politicized by the EFF and DA. Notwithstanding the distortions that have been created in the public domain, the ANC is of the view that at no point has the President defied the recommendations made by the Public Protector nor indicated unwillingness to comply with her report.
What is at issue is the Public Protector`s contention that compliance with recommendations must be on her terms and not as directed by the Parliament or Executive which are the organs with the power to implement the "appropriate remedial action" she has recommended.
It would be interesting therefore to see whether the Constitutional Court will appropriate upon the Office of the Public Protector powers that the Office currently does not have. It would also be interesting to note what the implications of such action would be on the continued functioning of the Doctrine of Separation of Powers.
The ANC takes great pride in South Africa`s maturing democracy and has full confidence in our judicial system to provide answers to the vexing questions of our time.
The Chapter 9 institutions play a vital role in supporting our constitutional democracy and all South Africans remain duty bound to respect and promote their Constitutional mandate as does the ANC.
Issued by
Zizi Kodwa
National Spokesperson
Intrnational
SACP condemns the murderous regime of Turkey for its genocide of the Kurdish people
Alex Mashilo, SACP National Spokesperson, 9 February 2016
The South African Communist Party condemns, in strongest terms possible, the chemical warfare launched by the Turkish state against the Kurdish people and expresses its revolutionary solidarity with them.
Turkey is conducting systematic massacre in Cizre, in the northwest of the Turkish-Syrian-Iraqi tripoint. Tens of thousands of civilians have been subjected to heavy bombardment and street killings.
Two different buildings that sheltered wounded people were bombed in this latest round of the Turkish onslaught on the Kurdish people.
At least 60 people were brutally killed, with others completely perishing due to chemical reaction with the result that there were no physical remains to be buried with dignity. The Turkish government media (TRT-News) has been reporting the genocide as "victory". This is barbaric.
The SACP is calling on the democratic and peace-loving people of the world to take a tough stance against the Turkish regime.
The SACP supports the call by Kurdistan Communities Union for sanctions against the Turkish murderous regime and for its leaders who are responsible for the genocide to be held accountable for their crimes against humanity and war crimes.
Issued by the SACP
- See more at: http://www.sacp.org.za/main.php?ID=5114#sthash.CWkz5smH.dpuf
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Refugee teachers face threat of losing basic rights
Education International, 09 February 2016
As the refugee crisis continues to take its toll on migrants’ lives, policies that would exclude them from national working conditions, such as paying less than minimum wage, may push them further into exclusion.
Education International (EI) has endorsed the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC)’s call to international leaders to withhold from promoting excluding policies that would affect refugee workers’ basic rights, and to create opportunities that would instead enable them to find a faire place in the labour market.
Exclusion in the name of integration
International Monetary Fund (IMF) managing director Christine Lagarde presented the recommendation ‘The Refugee Surge in Europe, Economic Challenges’ at the this year’s World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos, Switzerland. The text calls for ‘temporary and limited derogations of the minimum wage for refugees’ – a proposal that has met strong rejection by ITUC and other global union federations such as EI.
The 50-page report, which “focuses on the economic dimension of the refugee challenge facing Europe”, indicates first that “the potential from refugees can be harnessed for the benefit of all”, but then goes on to suggest that this needs a swift integration of migrants into the economy, through the labour market and an adapted two-tiered system based on different labour conditions.
The ITUC warns the IMF in a communication that urging such a two-tiered wage structure “based solely on the basis of a worker’s migratory status is discriminatory, runs contrary to international law and is not economically sound”. Education International General Secretary Fred van Leeuwen has seconded the ITUC’s worries that any suggestion that refugees should be subjected to unequal treatment “risks endorsing the view of those who see refugee populations as unworthy of being full members of their communities, as well as increasing the anxiety of low wage workers (…) who fear that increased competition for scarce jobs will harm the prospects for them and their families. Neither of these developments would support the constructive cause the IMF purports to advance.”
ILO warns of devastating social and political consequences
On its website dedicated to the Syrian refugee crisis, the International Labour Organisation (ILO) labels it as “one of the largest and most protracted and complex humanitarian emergencies of modern times”. It emphasises the pressures faced by host communities including
- an increase in labour supply which results in increased employment competition as well as downward pressure on wages;
- a decrease in access and quality of public services healthcare and education; and
- an increase in child labour among refugees and host community residents, including the worst forms of child labour
As part of the wider UN response to the crisis, the ILO has adopted a development-focused and employment-driven strategy to support host communities and refugees in order to maintain and reinforce the social and economic stability of the affected neighbouring countries (Jordan, Lebanon, Turkey and Egypt), with projects of a total value of nearly $22 million USD. The strategy document can be found here.
In a video interview, ILO Director-General Guy Ryder explains the labour situation of Syrian refugees, stressing that it is possible to combine the interests of both local workers and refugees. He reminds that 90 percent of those who have fled to Jordan live in poverty and that is has become urgent to find legal pathways for refugees to access local labour markets.
Announcements
Enabling COSATU Members to Tweet Effectively
NB: @cosatu2015 has been revamped and now it’s @COSATU2015_
Introduction to COSATU Official Twitter Accounts
Ø @COSATU2015_
Official tweets on current affairs, ideological disposition and for a Question & Answer platform
Ø @COSATU TODAY @_cosatu
Seconds- COSATU roving official tweets on events, quotable sound-bites on speeches/interviews, newsflash etc.
How to Register a COSATU Member Twitter Account
Ø Go Google and type twitter/sign up
Ø Versions of name/surname must be completed
Ø Choose a username/password and don’t forget them
Ø Update your profile; picture, bio
o Picture size should be 700k
o Bio-short narrative who you are
Ø Examples of Bio; Africa's largest Federation Official tweets, the home of the toiling classes across the world, with more than 2million membership...Amandla! Johannesburg, South Africa · http://www.cosatu.org.za
Ø Choose who to follow and type @COSATU2015_ and @COSATU TODAY @_cosatu
Ø And you’re skinning in the game through COSATU tweets
Communicating messages that matter is like artwork
Social Media generation is here and is unavoidable
‘Let’s skin in the game of COSATU Tweets’
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Norman Mampane (Shopsteward Editor)
Congress of South African Trade Unions
110 Jorissen Cnr Simmonds Street
Braamfontein
2017
P.O.Box 1019
Johannesburg
2000
South Africa
Tel: +27 11 339-4911 Direct 010 219-1348
E-Mail: mam...@cosatu.org.za
