Taking COSATU Today Forward, 22 May 2024
Norman Mampane
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COSATU TODAY Dear workers: #May29 is few days to come. Let’s come out with our families to #VoteANC with an overwhelming majority #ElijahBarayiBrigades #VoteANC #ClassStruggle “Build Working Class Unity for Economic Liberation towards Socialism” #Back2Basics #JoinCOSATUNow #ClassConsciousness |
Taking COSATU Today Forward
‘Whoever sides with the revolutionary people in deed as well as in word is a revolutionary in the full sense’-Maoo
Our side of the story
22 May 2024
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Contents
- Workers Parliament: Back to Basics!
- COSATU KZN is devastated by the incident that claimed the lives of four workers and left one seriously injured at a construction site in Ballito
- South Africa
- COSATU urges the Department of Employment and Labour to launch a health and safety crackdown across high risk sectors
- COSATU welcomes government's announcement of a new mineral rights application system operator
- International-Workers’ Solidarity!
- Ivorian union campaigns for gender equality in the mines
Workers’ Parliament-Back2Basics
COSATU KZN is devastated by the incident that claimed the lives of four workers and left one seriously injured at a construction site in Ballito
Edwin Mkhize, COSATU KwaZulu-Natal Provincial Secretary, 22 May 2024
The Congress of South African Trade Unions in KwaZulu Natal, is still reeling in shock over the devastating and unfortunate incident that claimed the lives of four construction workers and left one seriously injured during the collapse of the sandbank in Ballito.
After the news broke out on Saturday morning, the provincial leadership of COSATU in KZN immediately paid a visit to the area in response to the call.
COSATU leadership further interacted with the other workers who survived the incident, family members and various service providers who were at the site. It was disheartening to witness the trauma and devastation of all those affected.
In the previous years, workers have perished during the construction of Ballito Mall, at the construction site in Jacobs etc. To date, there is no information as to how those matters were concluded, which remains a concern for COSATU.
Considering the recent incidents that have claimed the lives of workers, COSATU is irate about the continued neglect by some employers, of the health and safety standards which are clearly enshrined in the Occupational Health & Safety Act.
COSATU sends its heartfelt condolences to all the victims and workers who were affected by this accident.
We call on the Department of Employment & Labour to hold non-compliant companies accountable and ensure that matters of consequence management are taken seriously.
There must be full accountability on all the previous cases where workers have lost their lives or injured on duty.
We shall continue to engage DEL to allow COSATU as one of the key stakeholders, an observer status during these investigations and hearings.
We wish to thank all the good-hearted people and various service providers who came out in their numbers to assist during the rescue and recovery of the deceased workers.
COSATU commits itself to working with the families and the rest of the workers to help them find closure and ensure that their interests are not overlooked.
Today the leadership of COSATU together with the Premier of the Province, Ms. Nomusa Ncube-Dube, will do a follow-up visit to the families of the deceased workers and further visit the survivor at the hospital.
The visit will start at Inkosi Albert Luthuli Hospital at 14h00.
Issued by COSATU KZN
COSATU urges the Department of Employment and Labour to launch a health and safety crackdown across high risk sectors
Matthew Parks, COSATU Acting National Spokesperson & Parliamentary Coordinator, 22 May 2024
The Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU) is deeply alarmed by the recent spate of horrific incidents at several workplaces that have cost the lives of dozens of workers. These include 34 construction workers who died in George, the 5 construction workers at eNgcobo, 4 construction workers in Ballito and 11 fishermen missing and presumed drowned off the coast of Hout Bay.
The Federation offers its deepest sympathies to the families of these workers who perished for no reason. We wish a speedy recovery to the survivors of these tragedies.
Whilst South Africa has very clear and progressive health and safety laws and building codes, the recent disasters workers are being exposed to and dying in alarming numbers, points to a system that is not working. It is clear that employers are wantonly breaking every single labour, health and safety, and building law. And are getting away with murder.
Whilst investigations into the exact causes of these accidents must still be finalised, it is clear that these employers recklessly exposed workers to unsafe conditions. COSATU demands the investigation into these incidents be expedited and time frames be given in which the preliminary reports must be shared with the public.
The fact that the rescue teams had to call off the search at Ballito due to further multiple collapses of the embankment confirms the site was not a safe place to work at. Inspections were not done prior to determine safety of the site or foresee and prevent potential landslides. Tragically workers died as a direct result. Workers continue to lose their lives at the hands of criminally negligent employers when safety measures are not put in place and adhered to as required by the Occupational Health and Safety Act.
COSATU will be seeking an urgent meeting with the Minister for Employment and Labour, Mr. Thulas Nxesi, to ensure a comprehensive set of interventions are actioned and that workers are protected. Key interventions urgently needed include:
- Ensuring the families of the deceased are able to bury their loved ones with the dignity they deserve, including retrieving bodies still trapped.
- Releasing the funds the affected workers and their families were entitled to had their employers registered and paid their dues as legally obliged to the Compensation Fund for Occupational Injuries and Diseases.
- The employer must ensure the families of the deceased receive the necessary compensation and that the surviving workers receive the necessary healthcare and compensation until such time that doctors are confident they can return to work. They must be assisted with the claim processes at the Compensation Fund.
- Expediting the investigations into these tragic incidents and holding the guilty employers fully accountable, including their immediate arrests and prosecutions.
- Embarking on a nation-wide joint workplace health and safety blitz between the Department of Employment and Labour and Organised Labour, targeting in particular high-risk sectors such as construction, fishing, chemical and other factories, mining, security, transport amongst others.
- Doubling the number of Labour, Health and Safety Inspectors from the currently insufficient numbers.
- Tabling at Parliament the long-awaited Occupational Health and Safety Amendment Bill and the Mine Health and Safety Amendment Bill to tighten gaps in the existing Acts.
These tragedies are yet another reminder that the lives of workers depend upon strengthening our labour laws, and in tightening their enforcement. We will not entertain the reckless calls by obscure politicians desperate for attention, to collapse our labour laws and expose vulnerable workers to abuse and death.
We cannot allow workers to continue to be abused by inhumane employers, have their lives put in serious danger and their families plunged into absolute poverty. It is time such employers are sent to prison. Workers deserve to have their fundamental constitutional rights respected at all times. COSATU and its Affiliates will be intensifying their campaigns to defend the rights and lives of all workers.
Issued by COSATU
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COSATU welcomes government's announcement of a new mineral rights application system operator
Matthew Parks, COSATU Acting National Spokesperson & Parliamentary Coordinator, 22 May 2024
The Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU) welcomes government’s announcement of a new mineral rights application system (cadastral) operator. This has been a matter of great concern to the Federation and our affiliate, the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM), workers in the mining industry, value chains and mining communities across South Africa.
COSATU shares the views of industry that the current applications system has been woefully inadequate and stifled investments and growth in the mining industry.
We welcome the progressive commitment by the Minister for Mineral Resources and Energy, Mr. Gwede Mantashe, that appointed service providers will install a modern, efficient and transparent system and the suffocating backlog of applications will be dealt with over the course of 2024.
Once implemented, the new mining rights application system will mark a major turn of fortunes for the industry with new investments, jobs and state revenue. Workers, the economy, public services and the nation need to see the unlocking of the mining industry and the economy’s growth. This is a positive sign that South Africa under the leadership of the President Cyril Ramaphosa and the African National Congress is turning the corner. This will bring hope for thousands of mine workers who have borne the brunt of retrenchment notices.
The Federation will be requesting regular updates be provided to Organised Labour and Business at Nedlac to ensure this commitment is expedited and no stone is left unturned to unlock the mining industry.
Issued by COSATU
International-Solidarity
Ivorian union campaigns for gender equality in the mines
22 May, 2024
Critical issues for women in the mining sector in Côte d’Ivoire include fighting for gender equality, closing the gender pay gap, increasing the representation of women in leadership in the union, the elimination of gender discrimination, demand that mining companies comply with health and safety laws, and the introduction of workplace policies to end gender-based violence and harassment.
These issues make up the agenda of on-going workshops which began in April and will end in July. The workshops are part of the IndustriALL Sub Saharan Africa regional activities on women in mining.
The series of workshops began with the mining prospects for Côte d’Ivoire workshop which took place at Agbaou gold mine, 25-26 April in which workers from Bonikro Mine also participated. The mines are owned by Allied Gold Corporation, a Canadian gold mining multinational listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange, which also has operations in Ethiopia and Mali. Côte d’Ivoire also has some of the critical minerals that are needed for the transition from fossil fuels to renewable energy. These included bauxite, lithium, and manganese.
The Allied Gold mines, which employ women as administrators, engineers, dump truck drivers, and occupational health and safety officers, have a combined workforce of over 700 workers. The workforce comprises 11 and 15 per cent women at Agbaou and Bonikro, respectively.
Over 100 women from the Federation Ivorienne des Syndicates des Mines, Metaux, Carrieres et Connexes (FISMECA), which is affiliated to IndustriALL Global Union, participated at the workshop. The issues discussed included equal-pay-for-work-of-equal-value, the collective bargaining agreement with the mines, how the union is engaging the mines on the gender pay gap, and the beginning of social dialogue with the ministry of mines to discuss decent working conditions. Ministry officials present at the workshops said the government welcomed engagement with trade unions organizing in the country’s growing mining sector.
Participants applauded the current collective bargaining agreement which gave women miners one year maternity leave. However, some participants raised concerns that mining companies could use the long maternity leave to further widen the gender gap to marginalize women through loss of benefits and opportunities.
Zogba Karidja Traore, chairperson of the FISMECA women’s committee, said the union is campaigning for gender equality.
“Often women are excluded from training and not promoted especially when they return from maternity leave. This affects their wages which will remain lower that their co-workers.”
She added that FISMECA is supporting women candidates in the coming union elections so that they are represented in the leadership.
“The gender pay gap must be closed as women miners are equally qualified as their male co-workers. One of the ways to end this discrimination is to have gender responsive workplace policies as per International Labour Organization Convention 190 to end violence and harassment in the world of work,”
said Paule France Ndessomin, IndustriALL regional secretary for Sub Saharan Africa, who participated at the workshops together with the project team.
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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 line: 010 219-1348