Taking COSATU Today Forward Special Bulletin, 13 June 2022
Norman Mampane
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#2022YearofWorkersParliament #YouthMonth #InternalDemocracy #WorkerControl #EndChildLabour #Back2Basics #JoinCOSATUNow #ClassConsciousness |
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
Monday, 13 June 2022
‘Deepen
the Back to Basics Campaign, Consolidate the Struggle for the NDR and Advance the Struggle for Socialism’
All workers urged to take Covid19 vaccine jabs!
Organize at every workplace and demand Personal Protective Equipment Now!
Defend Jobs Now!
Join COSATU NOW!
Contents
- Workers Parliament: Back to Basics!
- NUM AND AMCU concluded a three-year wage agreement with Sibanye-Stillwater in the gold sector
- UIF to release 2021/2022 covid-19 TERS & normal benefit stats for Western Cape
- South Africa
- DENOSA Eastern Cape on Health Department’s non-compliance with arbitration’s order to pay rural allowance to Enrolled Nurses and enrolled nursing assistants in three hospitals
Ø Employment and Labour hails Grahamstown High Court's decision on misappropriated COVID-19 TERS funds
- SACP welcomes the suspension of Public Protector Busisiwe Mkhwebane
- International-Workers’ Solidarity!
- COSATU saddened, and mourns the passing of Comrade Amos Mbulaheni Mbedzi
Ø Union in deal to donate confiscated garments to South African flood victims
- Statement | World Day Against Child Labour
Workers’ Parliament-Back2Basics
NUM AND AMCU concluded a three-year wage agreement with Sibanye-Stillwater in the gold sector
William Mabapa: NUM General Secretary , 12 June 2022
The National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) and Association of Mineworkers & Construction Union (AMCU) signed a 3-year wage agreement with Sibanye-Stillwater early hours of Saturday morning (11 June 2022).
The wage agreement, signed late early hours of Saturday morning, ends a three month strike first called by the NUM and AMCU on March 8. It had been preceded by around eight months of negotiations that started in June 2021. .
The duration of this Agreement shall be for a period of 3 (three) years from 1 July 2021 to 30 June 2024 and shall remain in force and effect until amended or replaced by a new agreement.
This Agreement shall apply to and bind the Company as well as the Unions and their members and all other permanent employees employed by the Company in the Category 4 – 8, Miners & Artisans and Officials recognition units ("the Bargaining Unit").
“The NUM wishes to express its sincere gratitude to its members at Sibanye-Stillwater for the manner in which they behaved during the negotiation period until they gave us the mandate to sign this wage agreement. Our members are excited and they gave us the mandate to sign a wage agreement,” said William Mabapa, NUM General Secretary.
"The pressure that the NUM and AMCU exerted on Sibanye Stillwater through the rolling mass actions and strike to force the company and to sign the wage agreement has yielded good results for our members," Mabapa added.
The agreement is as follows:
Sibanye Gold
Year 1
Year 2
Year 3
Categories 4-8 surface and underground
R1000 to standard rate of pay
R900 increase to standard rate of pay
R750 increase to standard rate of pay
Miners and artisans
5%
5.5%
5 %
Officials
5%
5.5%
R5%
Hardship Allowance
1. . The Company shall pay all employees a once-off Hardship allowance of R3000 (Three Thousand Rands) to be allocated as stipulated below.
2. . The Company shall pay employees a once off Hardship allowance of R1 200 (One Thousand Two Hundred Rand). The Company shall deduct the value of R1 800 (One Thousand Eight Hundred Rand) from any amount owed by the employees to the Company, including but not limited to other payments made on behalf of employees to Third Parties.
3. . In the event that the employee does not owe any money to the Company in terms of clause 6.2 of the wage agreement, the employee will receive the full R3000 (Three Thousand Rand) as a Hardship Allowance.
4. . In the event that the employee owes the Company less than R1800 (One Thousand Eight Hundred Rand) in terms of clause 6.2 of the wage agreement, the money owed will be settled and the remainder of the R1800 (One Thousand Eight Hundred Rand) will be paid to the employee.
NUM members at Sibanye-Stillwater are excited that the wage agreement was concluded without any violence, intimidation and loss of life. The 2022 wage negotiations were very tough as a result the negotiations took more than a year to be concluded.
They were the longest wage negotiations in the history of NUM.
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UIF to release 2021/2022 covid-19 TERS & normal benefit stats for Western Cape
09 June 2022
The Unemployment Insurance Fund (UIF) will host a media briefing to release payment statistics of the Covid-19 Temporary Employer/Employee Relief Scheme (Covid-19 TERS) and normal benefits paid in the 2021/2022 financial year in the Western Cape.
Further, the Fund will also give an update on Covid-19 TERS fraud cases and the "follow the money" project.
The Department of Employment and Labour will also present on workplace inspections conducted in 2021/2022 while the Compensation Fund will divulge their claim statistics and rand value.
Journalists in the Western Cape are cordially invited as follows:
Date : Wednesday, 29 June 2022
Time : 09:00 - 12:00
Venue: Cape Town Labour Centre
Thomas Boydell Building
22 Parade Street
Please RSVP by 23 June 2022 to: Mapula.T...@labour.gov.za/ 060 989 7509 or Azwiitw...@labour.gov.za / 079 896 7693.
-ENDS-
Issued by: Department of Employment and Labour
South Africa
DENOSA Eastern Cape on Health Department’s non-compliance with arbitration’s order to pay rural allowance to Enrolled Nurses and enrolled nursing assistants in three hospitals
Sivuyile Sikwe, DENOSA Eastern Cape Acting Provincial Secretary, 13 June 2022.
GQEBERHA – The Democratic Nursing Organisation of South Africa (DENOSA) in the Eastern Cape is calling out the Department of Health in the province for its failure to comply with the arbitration award in favour of DENOSA, which ordered that the department pays out rural allowance to enrolled nurses and enrolled nursing assistants in at least three hospitals in Joe Gqabi and Chris Hani districts.
DENOSA is seated with three awards from the arbitration, all of which ordered the Eastern Cape Department of Health to pay rural allowance. In all the awards, the department did not exercise its right to appeal or take the orders for a review within the 14-day window period as provided in the rules of arbitration.
In 2019, DENOSA brought an application to the Public Health Social Development Sectoral Bargaining Chamber (PHSDSBC) arbitration on behalf of all enrolled nurses (ENs) and enrolled nursing assistants (ENAs) at Empilisweni Hospital in the Senqu Local Municipality, under Joe Gqabi District, for an order to pay them their rural allowance in line with Resolution 2 of 2004 at PHSDSBC.
In November 2019, the arbitration commissioner delivered the order, in favour of DENOSA, ordering the Eastern Cape Department of Health to pay the nurses rural allowance retrospectively, i.e. from June 2007 for those who had been employed at the time.
Furthermore, DENOSA lodged an application at arbitration in 2020 for all enrolled nurses and enrolled nursing assistants at both Cofimvaba Hospital and Glen Grey Hospital in Chris Hani District to be paid rural allowance. Again, the commissioner ruled in favour of DENOSA and ordered the department to pay the nurses the rural allowance.
The department has been mum about these orders, blatantly ignoring and acting consistently in its undermining of collective bargaining.
The payment of rural allowance has become urgent, especially in the context of years that have gone by without public servants receiving any form of increment. The standard of living for all public servants has dropped drastically and many families are finding it hard to make ends meet.
End.
Issued by the Democratic Nursing Organisation of South Africa (DENOSA) in Eastern Cape.
For more information, contact:
Sivuyile Sikwe, Acting Provincial Secretary.
Mobile: 072 561 6454.
Sivuyile Mange, Provincial Chairperson.
Mobile: 072 575 5136.
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Employment and Labour hails Grahamstown High Court's decision on misappropriated COVID-19 TERS funds
10 Jun 2022
UIF hails Eastern Cape High Court's decision to have ECTCC pay back R35 million misappropriated COVID-19 TERS funds
The Grahamstown High Court has on Tuesday, 7 June 2022, granted a forfeiture order against the Eastern Cape Transport Tertiary Co-Operative Limited (ECTCC) to pay back R35 million Covid-19 TERS funds that were misappropriated from the Unemployment Insurance Fund (UIF).
The Fund agrees with the Court’s decision because it believes that the benefits paid out to ECTTC and affiliate co-operatives are indeed the proceeds of unlawful activities. One of the requirements in the Covid–19 TERS directive is that an employer, when applying for the benefits, must submit a letter of authority as well as a signed Memorandum of Agreement (MoA) with the UIF.
The UIF asserts that those applications were fraudulent because the intended recipients were not eligible for the benefits and that they amounted to unlawful activities. The applications contravened the MoA which provides that an employer would only qualify for the benefit if the temporary closure of its business operations is a direct result of the pandemic; and they contravened Item 7 of the MoA which provides that the employer undertakes to use the benefits exclusively and solely for the purpose of paying the benefits to its employees.
ECTTC, after creating a profile, submitted applications for benefits on behalf of other applicants, as employers, and was paid in six instalments in one banking account in the total sum of R19 743 977,00.
“This raised a red flag for us and we initiated an interim audit which revealed irregularities that included applications made on behalf government employees, deceased individuals and prisoners”, says UIF Commissioner, Teboho Maruping.
A further investigation revealed that sixty-six entities submitted applications for benefits using the same contact details and collectively received R220 552 295,88. In March 2021 the UIF opened a criminal case with the South African Police Service (SAPS). In July 2021 the Fund applied for a preservation order to freeze the bank accounts so it can prevent further loss of Covid–19 TERS funds already paid to ECTTC and its affiliates.
“We have always warned those who fleeced the Fund that we are coming for you. The fantastic cooperation between the Fund and law enforcement agencies will ensure that more suspected criminals are brought to book to account for their unlawful conduct. We will not rest until we have followed and accounted for every cent and rand that was paid through Covid-19 TERS and where wrongdoing is uncovered, the law must take its course and wrongdoers are brought to book”, concluded Maruping.
For
Media enquiries contact:
Makhosonke Buthelezi
UIF Director: Communications and Marketing
Cell: 071 491 7236
Teboho
Thejane - Departmental Spokesperson
Cell: 082 697 0694
Email: teboho....@labour.gov.za(link
sends e-mail)
Issued by: Department of Employment and Labour
International-Solidarity
COSATU saddened, and mourns the passing of Comrade Amos Mbulaheni Mbedzi
Sonia Mabunda-Kaziboni, COSATU International Secretary, 13 June 2022
The Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU) is deeply saddened by the passing of an internationalist and revolutionary leader of our time, Comrade Amos Mbulaheni Mbedzi (57), who lowered his flag on the morning of the 7th of June 2022 in Polokwane Provincial Hospital, South Africa, while serving an 85-year sentence after conviction by King Mswati III’s absolutism courts in 2012.
Comrade Mbedzi was wrongly arrested in September 2008 for contravening the country’s Terrorism Act and sentenced to 85 years for his alleged involvement in a bomb explosion which claimed the lives of his two accomplices Musa “MJ” Dlamini and Jack Govender.
The government of Swaziland claimed that Mbedzi and the two deceased set up a bomb to blow up a bridge, after receiving information that King Mswati would be travelling on that bridge.
According to the Communist Party of Swaziland (CPS), however, when the Swaziland government failed to prove a case of terrorism against Mbedzi they arbitrarily changed his charge to that of murder for the deaths of his accomplices.
Whilst Comrade Mbedzi was held in the Swazi prison, in 2014, the SACP, joined by COSATU, CPS, SSN and several organisations in the Swaziland pro-democracy movement launched the Release Amos Mbedzi Campaign, which not only called for the release of Comrade Mbedzi but that of all pollical prisoners in Swaziland.
It is upsetting that the Swazi government failed to heed our call, and today, just two months after being handed over to prison authorities in his home country, South Africa, Umkhonto Wesizwe former member and SACP member Comrade Mbedzi is no more.
Comrades, the most befitting way to honour Comrade Mbedzi’s legacy is to continue with the fight for a free and democratic Swaziland. COSATU continues to pledge its commitment and solidarity to the people of Swaziland. We call on all progressive forces to agitate for the economic and political isolation of the Mswati government. We also continue to call for the release of all political prisoners in Swaziland, who are being incarcerated with no trial, under inhumane conditions.
Comrade Mbedzi died, not because his time had come, but because he was tortured, starved, and deprived of medical attention when he suffered a stroke and required serious medical attention whilst in the Swazi prison. The regime delivered a slow, inhumane and painful death to him by tormenting and draining the life out of him in the cruellest manner, and (then) sent him to a South African prison in an attempt to sanitize his image from the unjust incarceration that led to his untimely death.
COSATU vows to continue the struggle for Swaziland’s liberation from the rule of King Mswati III, the last absolute monarch in Africa, for which Mbedzi paid the ultimate price.
The federation conveys its deepest and heartfelt sympathies to the Mbedzi family, the Swazi people, progressive forces in support of the Swazi struggle, colleagues and friends of the late Comrade Amos. We wish them strength and comfort during this difficult time.
Rest in power, Mbedzi. Long live the spirit of Amos Mbedzi!!
Issued by COSATU
___________
International
Labour Conference adds safety and health to Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work
10 June 2022
The landmark decision means that all ILO Member States commit to respect and promote the fundamental right to a safe and healthy working environment, whether or not they have ratified the relevant Conventions.
GENEVA (ILO News) ‒
Delegates attending the International
Labour Conference (ILC)
have adopted a resolution to add the principle of a safe and healthy working environment to the International Labour Organization’s (ILO) Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work.
Delegates adopted the measure at the Conference’s
plenary sitting on
Friday 10 June.
Until now there have been four categories of Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work:
· freedom of association and the effective recognition of the right to collective bargaining;
· the elimination of all forms of forced or compulsory labour;
· the effective abolition of child labour;
· the elimination of discrimination in respect of employment and occupation.
The
decision by the Conference means that Occupational Safety and Health will become the fifth category.
The Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work were adopted in 1998 as part of the ILO Declaration on Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work. Under the Declaration, ILO Member States, regardless of their level of economic development, commit to respect and
promote these principles and rights, whether or not they have ratified the relevant Conventions.
Each of the fundamental principles is associated with the most relevant ILO Conventions. The new fundamental Conventions will be the Occupational
Safety and Health Convention, 1981 (No.155) ,
and the Promotional
Framework for Occupational Safety and Health Convention, 2006 (No. 187) .
The Conference also approved eight amendments to the Maritime
Labour Convention, 2006 (MLC, 2006) ,
which focuses on the rights and working conditions of seafarers. These amendments had been negotiated and adopted in May 2022 by seafarers’, shipowners’ and governments’ representatives during the fourth
meeting (Part II) of the Special Tripartite Committee of the MLC, 2006 .
The new provisions, expected to enter into force in December 2024, will contribute to enhancing the living and working conditions of seafarers around the world, based on some of the lessons learned during the pandemic.
The ILC’s
General Discussion Committee on decent work and the Social and Solidarity Economy (SSE)
adopted conclusions complemented by a resolution. The Conclusions’ 16 points include an important definition of the SSE and provide guidance on promoting the SSE within the context of decent work. The Committee also requested the ILO to develop a strategy
and action plan on decent work and the social and solidarity economy, to be presented to the ILO’s Governing Body at its November 2022 session.
World of Work Summit
Earlier
in the day, the ILC held the high-level, World
of Work Summit: Tackling multiple global crises, promoting a human-centred recovery and resilience .
Discussions focused on the urgent action needed to address the labour and social consequences of the current crises, and the use of human-centred approaches to support peace, resilience, and inclusive development, in particular for the most vulnerable populations.
“While the picture is bleak and the outlook uncertain, we must not lose sight of our vision for a better future of work. The hopes and dreams of millions depend on us. We cannot let them down. Together, we must deliver on our promise of a better, fairer, more
inclusive, future for all,” said ILO Director-General, Guy Ryder at the opening of the Summit. “We must renew our efforts to create decent work opportunities, especially for the most vulnerable groups,” he added.
In a separate segment, the summit also featured addresses by the Presidents of the Republic of Seychelles, Wavel Ramkalawan, and Honduras, Iris Xiomara Castro Sarmientos. Both addressed the most pressing issues shaking up the world of work.
Speaking of the exclusion generated by the capitalist system, Castro Sarmientos emphasized the problems faced by small producers, adding “In this system of exclusion, women, girls and boys are the most affected."
“Our message should be one of hope. Our actions and policies should present hope for our people, while we fight the scourges of corruption, exploitation and injustice,” said Ramkalawan.
_____________________
Union in deal to donate confiscated garments to South African flood victims
13 June, 2022
To help thousands living in shelters and in need of humanitarian assistance following severe flooding and landslides in some parts of South Africa in April, the Southern African Clothing and Textile Workers’ Union (SACTWU), has signed a tripartite framework agreement with clothing employers, retailers, and the South African government to support the flood victims.
So
far, the agreement has resulted in the donation of 1,600 blankets, garments, textile, footwear, and leather products, to the flood victims. The donated goods were seized at ports of entry by the South African Revenue Service (SARS) for customs regulations’
flouting by some importers.
The framework agreement aims at stopping the smuggling and to mitigate against market disruptions, corruption, and the threat to jobs. Additionally, it promotes industrial and trade policy tools aimed at securing and growing local jobs and manufacturing industries.
The agreement was signed under the auspices of the Retail, Clothing, Textile, Footwear and Leather (R-CTFL) masterplan.
Importantly, the agreement was bolstered by a recent court case in which SARS won against the smuggling syndicates. The court confirmed that SARS acted lawfully by seizing 19 containers of undervalued imported garments in 2020. The union says the undervaluation
is a common strategy used by corrupt importers to avoid paying import taxes.
In a statement, SACTWU says:
“We applaud SARS for its reinvigorated campaign to obliterate customs fraud in the garment, textile, footwear, and leather industries. We hope that this outcome sends a strong message to fraudsters and expect that swift seizures, arrests, and criminal charges will become the norm on illegal imports.”
“We initiated and concluded this new framework agreement as a determined effort to contribute concretely towards the alleviation of severe hardships that flood victims are experiencing, while simultaneously protecting our members’ jobs,”
says André Kriel, SACTWU general secretary.
“This initiative is a testimony that tripartite agreements, as shown by the R-CFTL masterplan, are key instruments to ending the smuggling of garments and textile goods. We support SACTWU efforts to save local manufacturing industries,”
says
Paule France Ndessomin, IndustriALL regional secretary for Sub Saharan Africa.
In April heavy rains of over 450 mm were recorded in some areas over 48-hours. The unusual down pours, attributed to extreme weather conditions caused by the climate crisis, caused havoc in KwaZulu-Natal, the Eastern Cape, North West, and Free State provinces.
According to the South African government over 489 people lost their lives whilst over 63 were reported missing. Further, 4 000 homes were destroyed, and over 40 000 displaced.
The signatories to the agreement are SACTWU, another union, and the employers’ organizations: the South African Apparel Association, the Apparel and Textiles Association of South Africa, the Apparel Manufacturers of South Africa, the Textile Federation of South
Africa, and the South African Footwear and Leather Export Council. The government is represented by the Department of Trade, Industry, and Competition, and SARS.
Retailers that signed are the National Clothing Retail Federation, representing Mr Price Group, the Foschini Group, Truworths, Woolworths, Pick ‘n Pay, Cotton On, Cape Union Mart, and Queenspark. Pepkor, Superbalist, and Retailability also signed.
____________
Statement | World Day Against Child Labour
equity and inclusion from work to school: putting an end to child labour, 13 June 2022
On June 12th, World Day Against Child Labour, Education International calls on unions to urge governments to implement the Durban Call to Action on the Elimination of Child Labour adopted at the 5th Global Conference on the Elimination of Child Labour, held from 15-20 May 2022.
The Durban Call to Action represents an important international commitment to ending child labour which can be used by Education International and its member organisations to:
- Support advocacy to strengthen quality public education as a tool for the elimination of child labour.
- Reaffirm the human right to education and free, compulsory, quality, basic education.
- Reaffirm the central role of social dialogue, the importance of the International Labour Organization (ILO) and the ILO’s fundamental principles and rights at work, including freedom of association and collective bargaining.
Ending child labour is increasingly urgent
This call to action addressed to the governments of all United Nations (UN) Member States acknowledges that the COVID-19 pandemic, armed conflicts, and food, humanitarian, and environmental crises threaten to reverse years of progress against child labour.
It builds on the body of international conventions, UN and multilateral conferences and commitments, in particular the UN 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development target 8.7 to end child labour in all its forms by 2025. It recalls the universal ratification of the Worst Forms of Child Labour Convention, 1999 (No. 182) and other ILO Conventions, including the Minimum Age Convention, 1973 (No. 138) as well as the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child. It also builds on the commitments made in the context of the 2021 International Year for the Elimination of Child Labour, and the outcomes of the previous Global Child Labour Conferences.
The Durban Call to Action includes commitments in six different areas:
- Making decent work a reality for adults and youth above the minimum age for work by accelerating multi-stakeholder efforts to eliminate child labour, with priority given to the worst forms of child labour.
- Ending child labour in agriculture.
- Strengthening the prevention and elimination of child labour, including its worst forms, forced labour, modern slavery and trafficking in persons, and the protection of survivors through data-driven and survivor-informed policy and programmatic responses.
- Realising children’s right to education and ensuring universal access to free, compulsory, quality, equitable, and inclusive education and training.
- Achieving universal access to social protection.
- Increasing financing and international cooperation for the elimination of child labour and forced labour.
Teacher unions are key to ending child labour and making the right to education a reality
“Schools provide the best environment for all children. Children have the right to a quality education. They belong in school with their teachers and caring educators, not in the world of exploitation of child labour,” stated Education International General Secretary, David Edwards.
Underlining the importance of educators and their unions to eradicate child labour, he was adamant that governments must support teachers through training, continuous professional development, decent salaries and working conditions, and ensure education is made “genuinely free, available, and accessible to all”.
Edwards went on to mention five key teacher and union strategies to make sure children are in school:
- Research and evidence.
- Advocacy and social dialogue.
- Raising awareness.
- Community mobilisation.
- Creating safe and inclusive school environments.
He further explained that, for Education International and its affiliates around the globe, “education must be made genuinely free, available and accessible to all”. This, he said, calls for adequate investment in education by allocating at least 6% of GDP or/and at least 20% of the national budget to education.
Education unions, in cooperation with other trade unions, such as rural workers or plantation workers’ unions, and trade union centres have a vital role to play in ensuring that governments are held accountable for the implementation of the measures to which they committed in the Durban Call to Action, Edwards added.
Education unions can use the Durban Call to Action in advocacy with the National Assembly/Parliament, the education community, parents and activists, and to raise awareness with union members.
The summary of the main points of relevance to Education International and its member organisations of the Durban Call to Action on the Elimination of Child Labour is available here.
_________________________________________________
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