Taking COSATU Today Forward Special Bulletin, 31 March 2026 #CosatuGreenIndustrialisation
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
31 March 2026
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Contents
- Workers Parliament: Back to Basics!
- NUM demands fair wages and dignity as negotiations with Goldfields commence
- South Africa
- Government's R3 a litre fuel levy cut is a positive first step but much more relief is urgently needed
- The SACP condemns acts of intimidation and attempts by the ANC President to undermine its independence and fundamental decisions
- International-Workers’ Solidarity!
- IndustriALL files ILO complaint against Malaysia over systemic union busting
Workers’ Parliament-Back2Basics
NUM demands fair wages and dignity as negotiations with Goldfields commence
Ntsane Monaheng, NUM Chief Negotiator at Goldfields & Nico Van Rooyen, Divisional Manager, 31 March 2026
The National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) and United Association of South Africa (UASA) is currently engaged in intensive wage negotiations with Goldfields at the Indaba Hotel in Fourways. Following the company’s opening offer of a 3.2% increase presented, the unions remains firm in its pursuit of an agreement that reflects the true value of our members' labour and the economic realities they face.
The unions have entered these talks in good faith, with a clear mandate to secure fair compensation, improved working conditions, and long-term sustainability for all workers. Our demands are not merely numbers; they are a necessary response to the rising cost of living, increased technical responsibilities, and the persistent wage disparities within the mining sector.
The NUM’s core demands include:
•Wages: A 15% increase for Categories 4–8 (A4–B5) and a 13% increase for Miners, Artisans, and Officials (minimum R5,460).
•Housing Allowance: A demand of R8,500 for the first year, with wage percentage increases applied in subsequent years.
•Living-Out Allowance (LOA): A demand of R3,500 for the first year and with wage percentage increases applied in subsequent years.
"Our members are the primary drivers of Goldfields' profitability and operational continuity," says Ntsane Monaheng, NUM Chief Negotiator at Goldfields, . "We are approaching these negotiations with agility and determination. It is essential that management engages meaningfully with proposals that prioritize fairness and the retention of experienced personnel in a sector facing critical skills shortages."
The unions remains committed to a transparent and constructive process. However, we remind all stakeholders that we reserve all organizational rights as provided under the Labour Relations Act should good-faith bargaining fail to prevail. We expect a response from management that honors the dignity of the workers who sustain this industry.
South Africa #ClassSolidarity
Government's R3 a litre fuel levy cut is a positive first step but much more relief is urgently needed
Matthew Parks, COSATU Parliamentary Coordinator, 31 March 2026
Government’s R3 a litre fuel levy cut is a positive first step but much more relief from the massive rise in fuel price hikes due to the war in the Middle East is urgently needed.
Whilst appreciating this effort to cushion society from the international oil price spike, we fear that workers, society and the economy will simply not cope with a R3 a litre hike for petrol and more worryingly a devastating R7 a litre hike for diesel and R11 for paraffin. Diesel is critical for the public transport that workers depend upon as is paraffin for millions of working-class families. Workers already drowning in debt, supporting up to seven relatives each and spending an average of 40% of their meagre wages on transport; will not manage such painful diesel and paraffin, and even petrol price hikes.
The Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU) is sensitive to the real fiscal pressures facing the state. We welcome the Minister for Finance Mr. Enoch Godongwana’s commitment to engage upon and put in place further relief to protect society and the economy from this crisis over the next three months. This is urgent and important given that no one appears to know when the cause of this crisis, the war in the Persian Gulf, will end and once it does, it will take some time for oil and gas supplies to return to full capacity, and their prices fall to pre-war levels.
The most important source of relief for workers, society and the economy, is to further reduce the fuel taxes and levy. This is the most impactful and cost-effective solution to this global crisis. Additional relief should be sought by making public transport more affordable to commuters.
If the war drags on and inflation rises, additional relief should be put in place, in particular adjusting social and the SRD grants, delivering food parcels to social grant recipients, putting in place measures to protect food from inflation with targeted support for agriculture and Transnet, and engaging Eskom on measures to reduce the price of electricity. The Reserve Bank must spare society further pain by not increasing the repo rate as this source of inflation is external and not domestic driven and workers’ wages must be protected from further bleeding.
The private sector too must contribute towards an economic and social relief package by committing to end retrenchments and providing loan and insurance payment holidays for struggling consumers.
Government with the support of public and private financial institutions must put in place a bold stimulus package to kickstart an under-siege economy.
COSATU will continue to engage government on a package of bold, progressive and decisive measures to cushion workers, the poor and the economy from this global crisis.
Issued by COSATU
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The SACP condemns acts of intimidation and attempts by the ANC President to undermine its independence and fundamental decisions
Benson Ngqentsu, SACP Western Cape Provincial Secretary, 30 March 2026
The South African Communist Party (SACP) in the Western Cape condemns, in the strongest possible terms, statements attributed to ANC President Cyril Ramaphosa calling on the SACP to reverse its decision to contest elections. Such statements fundamentally undermine the independence of the SACP as a political party.
The current epoch of our revolution requires President Cyril Ramaphosa and his cohort to appreciate that the SACP is not an affiliate or a “communist desk” of the ANC. Therefore, any expectation that the SACP and its leadership should submit to such directives is misplaced and will not be realised.
The SACP’s decision to contest elections is both principled and irreversible.
Furthermore, threats directed at leaders and members of the SACP who are currently serving in government will not deter the Party from pursuing its democratic mandate. President Ramaphosa and his cohort must be reminded that intimidation and coercion are the antithesis of what the ANC stands for. As a national liberation movement, the ANC is expected to embody democratic values and to respect the independence of all components of the Alliance.
The deployment of communists to the state is not a favour, but the product of collective struggle, sacrifice, and unwavering commitment to our people, our revolution, and our movement. The SACP will therefore continue to advance the interests of the working class, both within and outside the state, including through direct electoral participation.
As the SACP in the Western Cape, we caution ANC leaders that the hostility they are fostering towards the Party will, over time, have damaging consequences - not only for themselves, but for the broader liberation movement as a whole, both now and in the period beyond the forthcoming local government elections.
Issued by: South African Communist Party - Western Cape
International-Solidarity
IndustriALL files ILO complaint against Malaysia over systemic union busting
30 March, 2026
IndustriALL Global Union has filed a formal complaint with the ILO committee on freedom of association (CFA) against the Federal Government of Malaysia, documenting a deeply alarming pattern of union busting across 12 companies in the electronics, semiconductor, aerospace, automotive and paper sectors.
The complaint, submitted on 10 March 2026 together with five Malaysian affiliate unions, accuses the government of failing to ensure adequate protection against employer interference in workers’ right to organize and bargain collectively in direct violation of ILO Convention No. 98, which Malaysia has ratified.
A systemic pattern of violations
The 12 cases involve Flextronics Technology (Penang), Molex (Malaysia), Renesas Semiconductor KL, Texas Instrument Malaysia, XSD International Paper, General Aluminium Works, Hicom Automotive Manufacturers, Valeo Malaysia, Boeing Composites Malaysia, Nexperia Malaysia, Lumileds Malaysia and Wiwynn Technology Service Malaysia.
Across these cases, workers and unions faced a strikingly consistent set of tactics designed to undermine their freedom of association:
Employers threatened workers with loss of bonuses, salary increments and benefits if they voted for a union. Workers were warned of factory closures and mass layoffs if unions were established. Migrant workers, among the most vulnerable, were specifically targeted with threats of deportation and non-renewal of work permits. Company buses were deliberately delayed on voting days. Polling stations were made physically inaccessible. Workers were blocked from checking their names on voter lists. Union activists were dismissed, suspended and subjected to disciplinary proceedings following successful ballot results.
In some cases, companies weaponized the judicial system, filing challenge after challenge before the High Court, Court of Appeal and Federal Court, to delay recognition processes by years and in one case more than a decade.
Workers fought back and won but justice remained elusive
Despite relentless interference, workers in several companies demonstrated extraordinary resolve. At Nexperia, workers voted for their union with 95.92 per cent support. At Boeing Composites Malaysia, 85.2 per cent of eligible workers voted in favour of NUTEAIW. At Lumileds, the union won with nearly 70 per cent support despite management threatening migrant workers with deportation, denying bathroom breaks to union supporters and falsely accusing union leaders of personal misconduct.
Yet winning the ballot was rarely the end of the struggle. At Lumileds, a worksite committee member who spoke out against post-ballot intimidation was dismissed and forced to sleep in his car after being evicted from company accommodation. Migrant workers were deported.
At XSD International Paper, 20 union activists were dismissed weeks after the union won recognition with 63.71 per cent of the vote, only reinstated months later after a protest at the Malaysian parliament.
At Renesas Semiconductor, despite courts ruling multiple times in the union’s favour and confirming the company had engaged in union busting, no one has been prosecuted or penalized under the law six years after a formal complaint was lodged.
Authorities failed to act
The complaint documents a consistent failure by Malaysian authorities to take effective action. Complaints lodged with the Industrial Relations Department went unanswered or resulted in no concrete measures. Investigations were launched but never concluded with dissuasive penalties. Authorities relied on conciliation rather than enforcement. In the Flextronics case, an urgent complaint was lodged with Industrial Relations Department officers on-site during the ballot and nothing was done.
The ILO’s own committee of experts (CEACR), in its 2024 observations, had already flagged Malaysia’s ineffective remedies, lengthy procedures and insufficiently dissuasive sanctions in anti-union discrimination cases, expressing regret that the government had failed to provide requested information and had made no changes to the relevant provision of the Industrial Relations Act that blocks workers from accessing courts directly.
IndustriALL demands
IndustriALL and its affiliates are calling on the ILO CFA to recommend that the Malaysian government take urgent measures, including:
Ensuring that secret ballot and recognition procedures are conducted free from employer interference, with active monitoring and immediate intervention by the authorities.
Guaranteeing prompt, impartial investigations into anti-union discrimination with clear timelines and reasoned outcomes. Imposing effective, proportionate and dissuasive sanctions including meaningful application of Section 59 of the Industrial Relations Act. Providing rapid remedies for affected workers, including reinstatement and compensation. Taking specific measures to protect migrant workers, who face unique and heightened vulnerability to coercion. Preventing excessive judicial delays from becoming a tool to deny collective bargaining rights.
IndustriALL general secretary, Atle Høie, said:
“The cases in this complaint are not isolated incidents they are evidence of a structural failure to protect workers’ fundamental rights in Malaysia. Workers are winning ballots with overwhelming majorities and still being dismissed, intimidated and denied the right to bargain. The Malaysian government must act and the ILO must hold it to account.”
The complaint was filed jointly with the Electronics Industry Employees’ Union Northern, Southern and Western Regions (EIEUNR, EIEUSR and EIEUWR), the Paper and Paper Products Manufacturing Employees Union (PPPMEU) and the National Union of Transport Equipment & Allied Industries Workers (NUTEAIW) unions together representing tens of thousands of workers across peninsular Malaysia.
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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