Taking COSATU Today Forward, 13 May 2024
Norman Mampane
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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
13 May 2024
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Contents
- Workers Parliament: Back to Basics!
- COSATU offers its support for the victims of the George tragedy
- South Africa
- COSATU welcomes massive R1 billion investment commitment by Hisense to support local procurement in Atlantis and beyond
- International-Workers’ Solidarity!
Ø Italy: union win for Enel workers
Workers’ Parliament-Back2Basics
COSATU offers its support for the victims of the George tragedy
Matthew Parks, COSATU Acting National Spokesperson & Parliamentary Coordinator, 10 May 2024
The Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU) offers its support for the victims of the George tragedy. We wish the survivors a speedy recovery and the affected families, particularly for those who have passed away, all the strength during this difficult period.
COSATU’s Provincial Leadership has been at the scene in George and is in close contact with the Department of Employment and Labour as well as the Compensation for Occupational Injuries and Diseases Fund to ensure justice is done and the relief due to the workers and families is expedited.
This horrific incident is a painful reminder that whilst we have progressive labour and building laws, many employers blatantly defy them and workers pay the price for this criminal neglect on a daily basis.
It is clear this construction site failed the most basic of health and safety regulations. We are disturbed by reports indicating the company employed undocumented workers and most likely was not in compliance with their legal obligations under Occupational Health and Safety, Basic Conditions of Employment, Compensation of Occupational Injuries and Diseases as well as Unemployment Insurance Acts.
This is exactly why the Democratic Alliance’s proposals to exempt 90% of employers from all our labour laws are so dangerous.
It is highly likely the employer deliberately chose not to register these workers for the Unemployment or Compensation Funds. These workers and their families may now be at risk of not receiving the compensation they are legally due.
The Department and the Funds must pay these workers what they should have received had they been registered and fetch the monies owned by this delinquent employer.
We believe this employer has shown criminal neglect to these workers and must be charged by the South African Police Service, arrested and brought before court. We cannot accept that whilst workers have died and many remain trapped under 3000 tonnes of rubble, that the employer can be allowed to continue as usual.
The Federation is deeply worried about allegations of an unhealthy relationship between the company owners and the George Municipality.
It is critical the Department appoint an independent judicial enquiry into this horrific tragedy, including indications the Municipality failed to apply building and employment laws and if there is a corrupt relationship between the company and any politicians in the Municipality.
Workers deserve better. Government must act.
Issued by COSATU.
COSATU welcomes massive R1 billion investment commitment by Hisense to support local procurement in Atlantis and beyond
Matthew
Parks,
COSATU Acting
National Spokesperson & Parliamentary Coordinator,
10
May 2024
The Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU) welcomes the massive R1 billion investment commitment by Hisense to support thousands of jobs and local Black (in the inclusive BBBEE sense) owned businesses at its Atlantis manufacturing facility and along
the local value chain.
Hisense, a global electronics giant, has since it opened its Atlantis plant in 2013 steadily expanded its footprint. Today it employs 1 300 workers directly and supports 20 000 workers across the value chain. Investments in the plant have increased its production capacity to a massive 1 million televisions and 550 000 fridges per annum.
It now exports to 13 countries across Africa, positioning itself to take advantage of the African Continental Free Trade Area that the Department of Trade, Industry and Competition (DTIC), led by Minister Ebrahim Patel, is driving.
The R1 billion investment commitment by Hisense over the next 5 years will see jobs secured and increased directly and across value chain suppliers. It will inject massive stimulus into Atlantis, a large working class Coloured and African community that has suffered from severe neglect under two decades of rule by an indifferent Democratic Alliance (DA) in the City of Cape Town and the Western Cape.
This is a welcome injection that will benefit thousands of workers, their families across the greater Atlantis community from Witsand to Pella and Mamre and surrounding communities along the West Coast.
It’s a positive signal that the Investment Summits convened by President Cyril Ramaphosa and driven by Minister Patel are yielding real fruits for the economy and creating jobs on the ground. We hope that it will not be too much of a burden for the DA spin doctors who have been bleating about a divestment mirage from South Africa to suit their short-sighted desperation for votes on election day.
These real successes have been facilitated and supported by the DTIC, through the incentives it has put in place to attract investment, to the enabling environment its industrial policies have given to critical industries, to the support it has provided to emerging businesses and Black industrialists.
DTIC’s Black Industrialists Programme, once dismissed by the DA and other professional prophets of doom, is showing impressive results with 1 700 Black owned businesses supported by various DTIC programmes, now employing 161 000 workers.
These results and the positive vote of confidence by Hisense is yet another confirmation that under the leadership of President Ramaphosa and the African National Congress led government, we are turning the corner. Society is being cleansed of the cancer of corruption and public services rebuilt, obstacles to growing the economy are being tackled and jobs secured and created.
Issued by COSATU.
International-Solidarity
Italy: union win for Enel workers
13 May, 2024
Three Italian unions affilitated to IndustriALL, namely Federazione Italiana Lavoratori Chimica Tessile Energia Manifatture (FILCTEM-CGIL), Federazione Lavoratori Aziende Elettriche Italiana (FLAEI-CISL) and Unione Italiana Lavoratori Tessile Energia e Chimica (UILTEC-UIL), ended their strike at Enel after months of negotiations with management who had intentions to redefine the industrial relations model. The unions and Enel management reached an agreement in late April.
In March workers from Enel went on strike opposing the changes of working hours arrangements, outsourcing of operations on the electricity grid and the refusal to renew an agreement on remote work which will affect Enel’s 30,000 employees. A huge support for the strikes and a negotiation, which was attended by over 300 delegates from every area of Enel, led to the agreement.
After strong worker mobilization, operations will not be outsourced, and operational centers will be strengthened. An application for half-shift will be suspended and a joint commission will be set up to share the best solutions which will be tested no earlier than October this year, 2,000 new hires will be made where at least 1,600 will be additional hires (1100 by June 2025 and 500 by June 2026).
Regarding corporate welfare, the financing agreement will be stipulated with the aim of increasing and improving service to members.
Going forward regarding smartworking the trade unions have included in the text of the agreement a declaration confirming that they want to start negotiations with Enel to define a new agreement which takes into account the company's and workers’ needs.
In a statement the unions said that they believe they have achieved great results and have laid solid foundations to resume mutual paths between workers and the company and will revoke all strike actions and give reports to workers on the agreement in the coming weeks.
IndustriALL director for energy, Diana Junquera Curiel, says:
“We congratulate our Italian affiliates on this result. With strike action over and an agreement in place, workers can now focus on moving forward and enjoying the fruits of their struggle. In February this year IndustriALL, jointly with PSI, wrote a letter to Enel condemning their actions and called on them to act responsibly. Their actions were in violation of the Global Framework Agreement (GFA) and the European Works Council Agreement by making decisions regarding the working conditions of Enel workers without their participation in decision making. We are pleased that they have behaved accordingly and found an agreement.”
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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