Taking COSATU Today Forward Special Bulletin, 27 January 2025
Norman Mampane
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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’-Maoo
Our side of the story
27 January 2025
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Contents
- Workers Parliament: Back to Basics!
- Call for inputs on Draft Code of Good Practice on Dismissal to regulate labour relations
- South Africa
- COSATU welcomes progress in mining health and safety
- International-Workers’ Solidarity!
- COSATU sends condolences to families of South African soldiers who died in the DRC and calls for their heroic contribution to be honoured
- Affiliate in Bangladesh signs CBA with Hop Lun
Workers’ Parliament-Back2Basics
Call for inputs on Draft Code of Good Practice on Dismissal to regulate labour relations
23 January 2025
A Draft Code of Good Practice on Dismissal to provide guidance to employers, employees, trade unions and any persons applying it under the Labour Relations Act (LRA), 1995 has been published for inputs.
The Code of Good Practice on Dismissal will provide guidance regarding dismissals for misconduct, incapacity and operational requirements and will apply to employers and employees.
The Code was drafted at National Economic Development and Labour Council, the tripartite bargaining structure.
A key principle of the Code is that employers and employees should treat one another with mutual respect. It places a premium on employment justice, the efficient operation of an employer's business and the expeditious resolution of disputes.
The Code further says that employees should be protected from unfair action. While employers are entitled to satisfactory conduct and work performance from their employees.
Accordingly, the Code does not alter the rights and obligations created under a collective agreement.
The Code covers aspects relating to small businesses, misconduct, dismissals, probation, incapacity, operational requirements and notice of possible retrenchments.
Members of the public are invited to submit their comments on the draft Code within 60 days from the publication date (22 January 2025).
Comments can be sent to:
Department of Employment and Labour
Private Bag X 117
Pretoria
001
Or be hand delivered at: Laboria House, 215 Francis Baard Street Pretoria, 001 or be mailed to: Kopano.K...@labour.gov.za or Hlukani...@labour.gov.za
For media inquiries, please contact:
Teboho Thejane
Departmental Spokesperson
082 697 0694/ teboho....@labour.gov.za
-ENDS-
Issued by: Department of Employment and Labour
COSATU welcomes progress in mining health and safety
Zanele Sabela, COSATU National Spokesperson, 27 January 2025
The Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU) welcomes the progress made by the mining industry and the Department of Mineral and Petroleum Resources in ensuring workers’ health and safety at work.
Releasing the mining occupational health and safety statistics for 2024 on Thursday, the Minister for Mineral and Petroleum Resources, Mr. Gwede Mantashe, reported that the industry had registered the lowest number of mineworkers who died on the job at 42 deaths. This was a record low and a 24% drop from 55 deaths in 2023. The previous record low was registered in 2022 at 49 deaths; sadly, the death of 13 mineworkers in a conveyance accident in the platinum sector in 2023 derailed the downward trend that year.
Much as progress in keeping mineworkers safe and healthy at work is notable, it is important to point out that 42 deaths are still too high for an industry that has set itself the goal of Zero Harm. COSATU agrees with Minister Mantashe that these are not merely statistics, and that behind these numbers are workers with families, dependents and colleagues. The blow to families is aggravated by the loss of their breadwinners. For this reason, the industry and the department must continue to strive toward their stated goal of Zero Harm.
It is critical that Minister Mantashe ensures the department tables the long-awaited Mine Health and Safety Amendment Bill at Parliament as it will help strengthen protections for mineworkers and compel employers to tighten safety mechanisms.
With the devastating outcome of government’s operation at Stilfontein still uppermost in everyone’s mind, the Federation is acutely aware that these improved statistics do not include illegal mining fatalities. Minister Mantashe has maintained his stance that illegal mining is a criminal activity that has robbed the economy of an estimated R60 billion in illicit precious metal trade in 2024 alone. The Minister has vowed that government will continue with Operation Vala Umgodi, the very operation that saw 78 dead bodies hoisted up from the Stilfontein mine. However, the reality is the country cannot stomach another calamity of that scale. It is therefore imperative that Minister Mantashe and the department join hands with other mining stakeholders to develop more palatable means to deal with the scourge of illegal mining.
COSATU’s Affiliate, the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM), has continuously led from the front and advocated for the legalisation and regulation of artisanal mining to stem the illicit outflows of billions of Rands from the economy and to ensure that artisanal miners contribute their share of taxes into the fiscus. We call on Minister Mantashe to give serious consideration to this idea given the ongoing rampant retrenchments in the mining industry and the extremely high unemployment rate of 41.9% in the country.
A 16% improvement in occupational injuries was registered from 2,181 in 2023 to 1,841 last year. Occupational disease cases recorded dropped 17% from 2,233 in 2023 to 1,864 in 2024, aided by the manganese, iron, chrome, coal, platinum sectors, etc. An accompanying decrease in silicosis, pulmonary TB, Coal Workers Pneumoconiosis and other diseases was also registered. While we note the significant drop, we remain deeply concerned by the gold sector as it continues to report high numbers of occupational diseases for both silicosis and TB.
COSATU urges all workers who have suffered TB in the mines or any other lung disease to follow the necessary process to check their eligibility to claim for compensation from the Medical Bureau of Occupational Diseases (MBOD). This also applies to ex-mineworkers who contracted TB or silicosis from working in gold mines during specific periods between 12 March 1965 and 10 December 2019. Should the mineworkers be deceased, their dependants will be eligible to claim for compensation.
Any mineworker who worked in these mines for more than five years is entitled to a free medical benefit examination to determine whether they have silicosis or TB as defined in the trust deed. Should they test positive for these diseases, they will be eligible for compensation. The amount of compensation will depend on the nature of the eligible claimant’s illness.
The Federation further wishes to remind workers that a person who works or has worked on a mine has a lifelong right to two-yearly medical examinations to determine whether they have an occupational lung disease. This service is provided free by the Department of Health.
COSATU is committed to ensuring the that the health and safety of all workers is prioritised and will not rest until this ideal is achieved.
Issued by COSATU
International-Solidarity
COSATU sends condolences to families of South African soldiers who died in the DRC and calls for their heroic contribution to be honoured
Bongani Masuku, COSATU International Secretary, 27 January 2025
The Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU) sends its sincere condolences to the families of the members of the South African National Defence Force (SANDF) who fell in the line of duty in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
The nine members of the SANDF were part of the South African Contingent of the SADC mission deployed in the DRC, with two of them forming part of the United Nations mission, MONUSCO.
COSATU recognises the role and importance of soldiers as workers involved in protecting civilians, ensuring peace and advancing democracy and development, not only in the country, but in other parts of the continent and the world. This is an integral part of the constitutional mandate of the SANDF and the SADC mission.
The Federation calls for more dedicated attention to the deepening crisis in the DRC, which is threatening the whole of the SADC and East African regions, while greatly undermining prospects for development on the continent.
COSATU also calls on workers, particularly on the African continent to unite against wars, looting of minerals, corruption and undemocratic governance. It is workers and the poor who pay the highest price for all these ills. This is also a call to SADC, the East African Community and the African Union, as well as the UN itself, to be more concrete in supporting institutions of democracy and development for lasting peace on the continent. That would be the only way to honour the memory and heroic contribution of our fallen soldiers, but also to ensure generations to come can live in better and decent conditions for all.
Lastly, the Federation adds its voice to the call for the adequate resourcing of the SANDF to ensure South African troops are not left exposed, vulnerable and unable to fend off attacks when they are deployed on missions. Various stakeholders have continuously warned that the SANDF is severely under resourced and is desperately in need of a boost in its budget to make sure it delivers on its missions. COSATU calls on the National Treasury to turn its back on austerity, particularly when it comes to the defence budget because any cut literally translates to loss of life.
The conflict in the DRC has dragged on for three decades. There is a role for peacekeeping missions and South Africa has correctly actively participated in them. But they can only play a supportive role whilst the affected governments, parties and international bodies find lasting political solutions, including through negotiations. Peacekeeping cannot on its own replace that.
Issued by COSATU
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Affiliate in Bangladesh signs CBA with Hop Lun
23 January, 2025
On 6 January, Hop Lun Intimate (BD) Ltd Sommilito Sramik Union, affiliated to IndustriALL Global Union through the Sommilito Garments Sramik Federation (SGSF), successfully signed a collective bargaining agreement (CBA) with Hop Lun management after four rounds of negotiations since August 2024.
Under the agreement, effective from December 2024, workers will receive a 10 per cent increment on their basic wage. The union initially demanded an annual wage increment of 20 per cent of the total wage. The attendance bonus has been increased from BDT 800 (US$6.50) to BDT 1,050 (US$8.50) and cannot be deducted for approved leave. A festival bonus equivalent to full basic pay will be provided to workers with a tenure of six months or more.
The union also secured a commitment to promote a minimum of 100 workers annually, of which at least 80 per cent must be women. Women workers will be entitled to maternal welfare benefits in line with Bangladesh’s labour law, including 122 days of maternity leave. Pregnant workers will have access to free ultrasonography services provided by management, as well as additional meals to meet a daily requirement of 2,400 calories. Daycare and childcare facilities, including balanced meals and play arrangements, will be available for children under six years old.
The agreement includes provisions on disability rights, gender diversity, and equality. Management will take steps to promote gender diversity, including conducting training sessions. Women workers and those in need will receive two packets of sanitary napkins or reusable pads free of charge each month. Additionally, workers will undergo training on reproductive health.
Nazma Akter, executive committee member of IndustriALL and president of SGSF, says:
“This is a groundbreaking agreement. The union bargained for the inclusion of several progressive provisions, including disability rights, gender equality, and diversity, as well as Just Transition.”
The agreement also calls for the establishment of a permanent Just Transition committee with representatives from both the union and management. The committee’s mandate includes formulating a code of conduct and holding regular discussions on climate change and the steps needed to address its impact.
Christina Hajagos-Clausen, IndustriALL textile and garment director, says:
“Congratulations to the union and workers of Hop Lun on successfully negotiating a pro-worker agreement. IndustriALL is committed to supporting its affiliates in the fight to advance workers’ rights.”
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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