Taking COSATU Today Forward Special Bulletin, 14 June 2022
Norman Mampane
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#2022YearofWorkersParliament #COSATU holds NEDCOM this week #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
Tuesday, 14 June 2022
‘Deepen
the Back to Basics Campaign, Consolidate the Struggle for the NDR and Advance the Struggle for Socialism’
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Organize at every workplace and demand Personal Protective Equipment Now!
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Contents
- Workers Parliament: Back to Basics!
- NUM Youth Structure to embark on a march to Union Buildings this coming Saturday
- South Africa
- NEHAWU Western Cape welcomes the Labour Court Judgement interdicting the Department of Agriculture, Rural Development and Land Reform from proceeding with a disciplinary hearing using external lawyers
- International-Workers’ Solidarity!
Ø Health and safety is now a fundamental principle
Workers’ Parliament-Back2Basics
NUM Youth Structure to embark on a march to Union Buildings this coming Saturday
Sandra Maseko: NUM Youth Structure Acting National Secretary, 14 June 2022
The National Union of Mineworkers Youth Structure (NUMYS) will embark on a march to the Union Buildings in Pretoria this coming Saturday on the 18th of June 2022. The march will aim to address the following issues:
1. No to the closure of mines and power stations.
2. Persistent high unemployment and retrenchments
3.Lack of Social and Labour Plans implementation by the mining companies
4. Arrogant employers through wage negotiations
5. Petrol Hike
The decision to march to the Union Buildings was taken recently by the NUM Youth Structure at its National Youth Committee meeting at EBMTC Midrand. This year marks 46 years since the student uprising of 1976 and 28 years in a democratic South Africa. 46 years later the youth of this country finds itself in a state of a disaster which demands confrontation to change the reality faced by young people in this country.
"We can't commemorate June 16 this year the same way we did over the past years, we need to fight for a better life for our generation," said Sandra Maseko, NUM Youth Structure Acting National Secretary.
The memorandum will be handed to the Minister of Minerals Resources and Energy (DMRE), Minister of Labour and Employment as well as the office of the Presidency led by his excellency Cyril Ramaphosa. We, therefore, call on all NUM Regions, COSATU Young Workers, ANCYL, COSAS, YCL, SASCO and the Youth in our communities to come out in numbers to support this demonstration to liberate ourselves from this onslaught. Frantz Fanon said, "Each generation must discover its mission, fulfil it or betray it".
We will assemble at Burgers Park on the corner of Andries and Jacob Mare Streets in Pretoria at 10 am.
South Africa
Baxolise Mali, NEHAWU Western Cape Provincial Secretary, June 14, 2022
The National Education, Health and Allied Workers’ Union [NEHAWU] in the Western Cape welcomes the decision of the Labour Court interdicting the Department of Agriculture, Rural Development and Land Reform [DALRRD] from proceeding with a disciplinary hearing involving a lower paid employee using external lawyers as presiding officers. The union had vehemently opposed the use of external lawyers as presiding officers as this is against the principles of the signed collective agreement [Resolution 1 of 2003].
The Labour Court issued its judgement on the 13th of June 2022, following our urgent application interdicting the department from continuing with the hearing pending the outcomes of the dispute referred by the union on behalf of our member.
As NEHAWU, we are very clear that the use of external lawyers as chairpersons, and instigators is totally prohibited by Resolution 1 of 2003, which statements amongst others that; In a disciplinary hearing, neither the employer nor employee may be represented by a legal practitioner, unless –
• The employee is a legal practitioner or the representative of the employer is a legal practitioner and a direct supervisor of the employee charged with misconduct, or
• The disciplinary hearing is conducted in terms of paragraph 7.3 c”.
The facts in this matter involving our member had nothing to do with paragraph 7.3 (c) of Resolution 1 of 2003, in that this was never a hearing by an arbitrator, and we were against the use of tax-payers money to appoint external lawyers. Unfortunately, this fell on deaf ears of the Chairperson of the hearing, whom for obvious reasons was a beneficiary of tax-payers money as a result of being paid to render services even though this matter did not even need a legally qualified person to understand that the appointment was outside the labour prescripts leading to wasteful expenditure.
Lastly, this interdict must be understood as a warning shot to all employers in our province that NEHAWU shall use every means possible to defend workers, against employers who are hell-bent in dragging our members to disciplinary hearings even using means that are outside the law book.
END
Issued by NEHAWU Western Cape Secretariat
For more information, please contact: Cde Baxolise Mali (NEHAWU Western Cape Provincial Secretary) at 066 3050 591 or Baxo...@nehawu.org.za Or Cde Lucky Bopape (Western Cape Provincial Deputy Secretary) at 083 719 0692 or email: LBo...@gmail.com
International-Solidarity
Health and safety is now a fundamental principle
13 June, 2022
In a landmark decision, the International Labour Conference, held in Geneva in June, has added health and safety to the ILO Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work.
It is estimated that more than 3 million workers die every year because of their work, and tens of millions are injured.
The decision by the ILC on 10 June to make health and safety a Fundamental Principle and Right at Work, 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 ILO Conventions.
“This is a huge union win and a crucial step to make working life safer for the world’s workers,”
says IndustriALL general secretary Atle Høie.
“It is a milestone in the global efforts to stem the tide of deaths in the world of work. We can now look forward to a better tomorrow, where workers will be safe in the knowledge that health and safety will be a fundamental principle and right at work."
This is the first extension of workers’ fundamental human rights, since the four rights were adopted in 1998:
- Freedom of association and the effective recognition of the right to collective bargaining
- The elimination of forced or compulsory labour
- The abolition of child labour
- The elimination of discrimination in respect of employment and occupation
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).
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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