Taking COSATU Today Forward, 22 October 2021
Norman Mampane
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#2021YearofCosatuLocals #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
Friday, 22 October 2021
‘Deepen
the Back to Basics Campaign, Consolidate the Struggle for the NDR and Advance the Struggle for Socialism’
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Contents
- Workers Parliament: Back to Basics!
- Media Invitation to NEHAWU Book Launch
- South Africa
- COSATU strongly condemns violent attacks against protesting students, workers and citizens in Swaziland
- International-Workers’ Solidarity!
Ø Korean unions use Squid Game to mobilize for general strike
Workers’ Parliament-Back2Basics
Media Invitation to NEHAWU Book Launch
Lwazi Nkolonzi, NEHAWU Acting National Spokesperson, 22 October 2021
The National Education, Health and Allied Workers’ Union [NEHAWU] will officially launch its first history book titled: “In the Belly of the Beast” which records in detail the history of the union in the last 30 years as a class oriented trade union with an internationalist character, a red transformative union, a fighting and militant trade union.
This historic moment for NEHAWU coincides with the union holding its 12th National Congress under the theme “Strengthen workplace organisation to defend collective bargaining, deepen class consciousness and advance internationalism"
Details of the Book Launch
The book launch will be convened as follows:
Date: Friday November 05, 2021
Time: 18H30 for 19H00
Venue: Birchwood Hotel, 14 View Point Rd, Bartlett AH, Boksburg
Members of the media are invited to attend and to cover the launch of our book.
Issued by NEHAWU Secretariat
For further information, please contact: Lwazi Nkolonzi (Acting National Spokesperson) at 081 558 2335 or email: lwa...@nehawu.org.za
Visit NEHAWU website: www.nehawu.org.za
South Africa
COSATU strongly condemns violent attacks against protesting students, workers and citizens in Swaziland
Sonia Mabunda-Kaziboni, COSATU International Secretary, 21 October 2021
The Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU) denounces and condemns the murderous Mswati Regime in Swaziland for unleashing violence and brutally oppressing workers and students who are standing up for their rights and demanding justice for the two lawmakers arrested during protests earlier this year
Swaziland has become a police state that brutalises its citizens with impunity. The people of Swaziland are trapped in the world’s biggest open prison. Violent protests in Swaziland have escalated to the point where major towns in the kingdom have shut down, and at least 28 people have died as police clash with protesters in some of the worst unrest in the country’s history.
In the specific case of yesterday’s outrageous violence against the people, public sector workers organized a march to demand a Salary Review against the wage freezes and for better working conditions, as well as the release of the two members of Parliament, arrested during protests earlier this year.
We call on the people and the government of South Africa to stand up and take drastic action against this medieval regime that is trampling on people’s rights using the support from both the South African government and the private sector. At this stage, we commend the South African president, in his capacity as chairperson of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) organ on defence, politics and security cooperation, for dispatching a special envoy to Swaziland, which is expected to be in the country this week. The envoy is made up of Comrades, whom we hope will meet with the relevant stakeholders to assess the situation that has completely gone out of control.
Whilst the federation is not in favour of the conversations around sanctioning Swaziland, it must be made clear that the Swazi regime would not continue to abuse its people without the cooperation and support of the South African government and the private sector.
The fight for democracy and justice will continue despite the cowardice and betrayal of the people of Swaziland by both the SADC and the African Union. It is embarrassing to witness the whimpering behaviour of these organisations on the Swaziland question. The people of Swaziland and the continent deserve better than this!!
COSATU will continue to offer its unwavering support to the people of Swaziland, who are commendably and heroically standing up against this naked despotism. In this regard, the federation is seriously engaging with Comrades from the United eSwatini Diaspora South Africa, the Swaziland Solidarity Network, and our alliance partners to devise a concrete strategy and plan moving forward on our solidarity with the people of Swaziland. This should result in some action from our side in the coming week.
COSATU also calls on the Southern Africa Trade Union Coordination Council (SATUCC) to urgently deploy a special envoy to Swaziland within the next two weeks. We need to build regional and international consensus on Swaziland, taking particular interest in the role of the Southern African region structures that have the powers to consolidate this consensus-building on Swaziland.
In honour of the fallen giants of the Swazi struggle, such Mario Masuku, Jan Sithole and others who died demanding democracy and people’s power, we reiterate their call for the unbanning of political parties, the release of all political prisoners, and a new democratic constitution for the country. The brave political prisoners locked up in Mswati prisons deserve our solidarity and unconditional support.
Issued by COSATU
International-Solidarity
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Korean unions use Squid Game to mobilize for general strike
22 October, 2021
The Korean Confederation of Trade Unions used the popular Netflix series Squid Game in a video to mobilize workers to join the 20 October general strike.
“You are all on the brink of life. A new game begins to overturn the rules of inequality! The general strike game begins on October 20th.”
In the video, a games master addresses a group of contestants, challenging them on their individual failures to stand up for themselves at work. They will need to play a game to proceed. The game solution is found in a union song, which says:
“If we are fragmented we die, but if we are one, we stand a chance to resist."
The contestants sing the song together, cast off their tracksuits and don union struggle vests. The games master congratulates them for winning the game, and the screen fills with the strike demands.
“Workers of the world, cast off your tracksuits and join the general strike today!
At the end, the games master asks one last question:
“Where did contestant number one go?”
The camera shows the empty office of KCTU president Yang Kyeung-soo, who was arrested on 2 September.
Squid Game is a survival drama that features a contest in which a group of deeply indebted players compete in a series of children's games for the chance to win a large cash prize, with a deadly penalty if they lose. It became the most watched programme on Netflix in 90 countries, reaching 142 million viewers in 28 days.
The series has captured the public imagination, with many saying it dramatizes aspects of life under capitalism and the illusion of choice faced by workers and consumers. It also highlights the devasting levels of personal debt and inequality in Korean society.
The lead character, Seong Gi-hun, is a former auto worker who lost his job after a strike. His story is based on the brutal 2009 SsangYong strike, which culminated in the suicides of thirteen SsangYong workers and family members.
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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