Taking COSATU Today Forward Special Bulletin, 28 July 2026 #Internatiionalism
Norman Mampane
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COSATU TODAY COSATU Call Center Contacts: 010 002 2590 Today, #Cosatu convenes an International Policy Review Workshop at Boksburg… #Internationalism #GreenJobs #NationaActionAgainstCostOfLiving Campaign continues… #ClassWar #Cosatu40 #SACTU70 #ClassStruggle “Build Working Class Unity for Economic Liberation towards Socialism” #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
28 July 2026
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Contents
- Workers Parliament: Back to Basics!
- COSATU General Secretary, Solly Phetoe Input outlining the purpose of the International Policy Review Workshop underway at Boksburg on the 28th July 2026
- SAMWU welcomes release of municipal equitable share, but condemns the harm already inflicted on workers
- Employment and Labour invites comments on Draft Reviewed Code of Good Practice on the preparation, monitoring and implementation of the Employment Equity Plan
- South Africa
- COSATU and SATAWU vehemently oppose Great North Transport's proposed retrenchments
- President Cyril Ramaphosa pays tribute to liberation struggle hero Shanthie Naidoo Tweedie
- International-Workers’ Solidarity!
- New United Nations report reveals need for stronger international oversight of Artificial Intelligence
- WFTU Statement on the 26th of July 2026 On the 73rd Anniversary of the Attack on the Moncada Barracks
Workers’ Parliament-Back2Basics #ClassWar
COSATU
General Secretary, Solly Phetoe Input outlining the purpose of the International Policy Review Workshop underway at Boksburg on the 28th July 2026
Solly
Phetoe, COSATU General Secretary, 28th July 2026
Greetings comrades,
May we welcome you to this important session of the federation. Mine is to outline the purpose and objectives of this event and what will be expected to be its final product.
COSATU has convened sessions to work on producing outcomes that help the federation, the working class and our struggle forward.
Today, we are gathered to take forward the call by the COSATU Central Executive Committee (CEC) for a comprehensive Review of our international work in the context of the 40th anniversary of the federation and this is that session.
The purpose of this workshop is to receive the preliminary report of the NALEDI International Policy Review work on the state of COSATU International work, consolidate the international perspectives of affiliates towards a shared framework towards the National
Congress.
COSATU is highly involved in international solidarity work, in all parts of the world and this is also linked to one of the founding principles of the federation, which is international solidarity. We were born in the context of life and death and survival
was depended on how much solidarity we get from other workers and people all over the world. This forms the basis of our understanding of international solidarity, working class unity and building workers’ power.
We
appreciate the International Labour Organisations (ILO) for its consistent support to the work of COSATU and the cause of the working class.
In this meeting we have our affiliates, our alliance partners and various international solidarity organisations involved in different struggles and in different parts of the world. This seeks to help us engage robustly on what 40 years mean to us and to the world, at the same time.
It’s inevitable that after so long and so many years of struggle, you do sit back and reflect, but equally invite allies and other solidarity partners to give feedback to you and your work.
Ideally, we wanted to Convene a fully-fledged international Conference, in which we would have invited all our international allies from across the world. We have decided that we shall still hold that at a later date.
The
process of Review is to eventually develop a new international policy in a world undergoing so many changes and for COSATU to remain as relevant, as effective, as impactful as it has always been.
But the full process shall be discussed after the presentation by the National Labour and Economic Development Institute (NALEDI) and the various topics, particularly the International Labour Organisation (ILO), various specialists and our allies.
We
also wish to welcome the availability of the African trade union stalwart, Cde Kwasi Adu Amankwah, who shall be presenting tomorrow on the state of the trade union on the continent.
In the same vein we also welcome the availability of the ITUC Africa General Secretary and OATUU General Secretary for their willingness to engage this important topic and trust that it shall help us position ourselves properly in the momentum of building a strong, effective and highly organised trade union movement on the continent.
We also welcome the international solidarity movement and all the organisations that are actively involved in building international solidarity with the workers and the people of Eswatini, Palestine, Cuba, Western Sahara, Venezuela, Democratic Republic of Congo
and Sudan. This we say as we also prepare for the reorganisation of the international solidarity movement in our country and globally.
With these few remarks comrades, we hope we have set the tone for the work to be undertaken in the next few days and looking forward to your robust and insightful engagements.
Amandla!
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SAMWU welcomes release of municipal equitable share, but condemns the harm already inflicted on workers
Dumisane Magagula, SAMWU General Secretary, 28 July 2026
The South African Municipal Workers’ Union (SAMWU) notes the announcement by National Treasury that it will finally release the equitable share allocations due to affected municipalities by 31 July 2026. While SAMWU welcomes this decision, we cannot simply move on as though nothing happened. The decision to withhold these allocations in the first place was reckless, ill-conceived and devoid of any appreciation of the realities confronting municipalities, workers and communities.
There was simply no logic in taking municipalities that were already experiencing severe financial difficulties, withholding an important source of their revenue and then expecting their financial position and service delivery capacity to somehow improve. From the moment National Treasury announced the withholding, SAMWU warned that the decision would have serious consequences. We warned that workers would not be paid, third-party deductions would not be honoured and public services would be placed at risk.
National Treasury nevertheless assured the country that the withholding would have no impact on service delivery. The experience of the past few weeks has demonstrated how dangerously misplaced that confidence was.
Municipal workers across several provinces have either not received their July salaries, received them late or faced uncertainty about when they would be paid. In some municipalities, workers were already owed salaries from June. This happened at precisely the time when municipal workers were also supposed to receive their salary increases together with their July salaries.
These workers had rendered their services. They continued collecting refuse, maintaining water and sanitation infrastructure, repairing roads, maintaining electricity networks and ensuring that municipalities continued functioning. Yet when payday came, many were left with nothing.
The consequences were not theoretical. Debit orders bounced. Workers could not meet their bond and rental payments. Families struggled to buy food. Parents had to worry about transporting their children to school. Workers faced penalties and the possibility of damage to their credit records because of a decision over which they had absolutely no control.
National Treasury must therefore not expect applause for extinguishing a fire that should never have been started in the first place. The release of the equitable share is welcomed because it will bring desperately needed relief to municipalities and workers, but it cannot erase the hardship unnecessarily inflicted on thousands of municipal workers and their families.
SAMWU maintains that the initial decision was an unacceptable form of collective punishment. Municipal workers did not adopt unfunded budgets. They did not authorise irregular, fruitless and wasteful expenditure. They did not fail to implement consequence management against municipal managers and senior officials. Yet, when National Treasury decided to impose consequences on municipalities, it was ordinary workers and communities who were made to pay.
This approach was neither developmental nor sustainable. If National Treasury was genuinely concerned about the financial health and governance of municipalities, there were other mechanisms available to government. Treasury could and should have worked with the Department of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs, provincial governments and municipalities on targeted interventions, including the constitutional mechanisms available under section 139 of the Constitution.
Municipalities have been allowed to linger in financial distress for far too long. Government cannot stand by while municipalities deteriorate year after year and then suddenly resort to drastic measures that threaten salaries and public services.Intervention must happen before municipalities reach the point of collapse.
SAMWU also agrees with the sentiments expressed by the Minister of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs that government departments and institutions that owe municipalities must be compelled to settle what they owe. Government cannot demand financial discipline from municipalities while its own departments fail to pay municipal accounts.
If municipalities are expected to pay Eskom, water boards, workers, pension funds, medical schemes, service providers and other creditors on time, then national and provincial government departments must equally pay municipalities what they owe, and they must do so on time.
There cannot be one standard of financial discipline for municipalities and another for other spheres of government. The financial crisis in local government requires an honest assessment of the entire municipal funding model. It cannot be reduced to punishment whenever municipalities fail. National government must confront the chronic underfunding of local government, poor revenue collection, government debt owed to municipalities, corruption, financial mismanagement and the failure to intervene early in municipalities that are clearly in distress.
As SAMWU, our interest remains straightforward. We want municipalities that are financially sustainable. We want municipalities that can pay workers their salaries and salary increases in full and on time. We want municipalities that pay pension funds, medical aid schemes, bargaining councils and all other third parties without using workers’ deductions to finance municipal operations.
Most importantly, we want municipalities that have the financial and human capacity to deliver quality services to residents. Accountability and service delivery should never be presented as competing objectives. Those responsible for financial misconduct must be held personally accountable, but workers and communities should never be collateral damage in the process.
We therefore call on National Treasury to ensure that the announced equitable share allocations are released to all municipalities by 31 July 2026 without further delay. Municipalities receiving these funds must, as an immediate priority, settle all outstanding workers’ salaries, implement the salary increases due to workers and pay all outstanding third-party contributions.
The events of this month must never be repeated and National Treasury must learn from the consequences of its decision and abandon interventions that seek to restore municipalities to financial health by first pushing them closer to financial collapse. Workers must never again be made to pay for failures they did not create.
Issued by SAMWU Secretariat
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Employment
and Labour invites comments on Draft Reviewed Code of Good Practice on the preparation, monitoring and implementation of the Employment Equity Plan
27
Jul 2026
The
Department of Employment and Labour is inviting stakeholders and interested parties to comment on the Draft Reviewed Code of Good Practice on the Preparation and Implementation of the Employment Equity (EE) Plan.
The invitation for public comment will be for 60 days from the date of publication on 24 July 2026. The code deals with aspects such as its objectives, the application, its purpose and rational of the EE Plan, legal framework, structure of the EE Plan, process
for preparation, implementation and monitoring, development of the EE Plan and reporting.
The Code provides guidelines to designated employers, those who employ 50 or more employees, and their employees on good practice for the preparation, implementation and monitoring of an employment equity plan as required by the Employment Equity Act, No. 55
of 1998 (EEA), as amended, and its Regulations.
It also provides guidelines to employers and employees to consider and apply appropriately to their workplace circumstances.
This Code applies to all designated employers that are required to, in consultation with representative trade union(s) or its employees, or employee representatives, prepare, implement and monitor the EE Plan in terms of the EEA, as amended, and its Regulations.
The Code is issued in terms of section 54 of the EEA and must be read in conjunction with other Codes issued in terms of the Act, all relevant labour legislation, the Constitution and Broad-Based Black Economic Empowerment Act.
All public comments must be in writing and forwarded to:
Christina...@labour.gov.za
Tsholofe...@labour.gov.za
Enquiries:
Teboho Thejane
Departmental Spokesperson
Cell: 082 697 0694
E-mail: teboho....@labour.gov.za
Issued by Department of Employment and Labour
South Africa #ClassSolidarity
COSATU and SATAWU vehemently oppose Great North Transport's proposed retrenchments
Zanele Sabela, COSATU Spokesperson, 28 July 2026
The Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU) and its affiliate, the South African Transport and Allied Workers Union (SATAWU), unequivocally reject the proposed retrenchments at Great North Transport (GNT).
We view the proposed retrenchment as a devastating blow to workers, their families and the people of Limpopo who rely on GNT as their public transport service.
GNT issued a Section 189 notice attributing the proposed job cuts to declining revenues, a reduced operational fleet, increasing labour costs and organisational restructuring.
While the bus operator insists that no final decision has been made and that consultations will take place, COSATU and SATAWU are aggrieved that workers are once again being asked to pay the price for years of mismanagement, poor governance, and failure by the Limpopo Provincial Government via the Limpopo Economic Development Agency to provide proper oversight on the state-owned bus company.
Workers did not create the financial crisis faced by Great North Transport. They therefore should not be sacrificed as a solution to problems created by management failure and inadequate oversight.
Thousands of workers, learners, students and the elderly across Limpopo rely on GNT for their commute. Retrenchments will not only send hundreds of workers to the unemployment line in a province where the rate of unemployment is already higher than the national rate at 47% but will also impact public transport services that communities depend on daily.
COSATU will provide SATAWU with every support so it can vigorously protect every job in the consultation process and ensure that every possible alternative to retrenchment is explored. COSATU and SATAWU will oppose any attempt to use Section 189 to cut jobs without genuinely exploring all alternatives.
COSATU calls on the Limpopo Provincial Government, as the shareholder, not to stand by while workers bear the consequences of management and oversight failures. Government has a responsibility to protect decent work and ensure that state-owned entities fulfil their developmental mandate.
At a time when millions of South Africans are battling an unemployment rate of 43.7%, a stagnant economy and ever-rising cost of living, retrenching workers cannot be the solution. Saving jobs, rebuilding public transport and restoring confidence in Great North Transport must be the priority.
COSATU and SATAWU stand firmly with GNT workers and will use every resource available to fight job losses and defend the livelihoods of working-class families.
Issued by COSATU
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President
Cyril Ramaphosa pays tribute to liberation struggle hero Shanthie Naidoo Tweedie
24
Jul 2026
President
Cyril Ramaphosa has expressed his sadness at the passing of liberation struggle stalwart Shantavothie “Shanthie” Naidoo Tweedie at the age of 91.
President Ramaphosa offers his deep condolences to Mr Dominic Tweedie, the Naidoo family and friends and comrades of Shanthie Naidoo Tweedie who lived in exile in the United Kingdom from 1972 to 1991.
Born in Pretoria in 1935, Shanthie Naidoo became an activist while at school and became active in the then Transvaal Indian Youth Congress, the Federation of South African Women, the South African Congress of Trade Unions and the African National Congress,
in whose service she and Dominic Tweedie worked at the Solomon Mahlangu Freedom College in Tanzania.
Shanthie Naidoo Tweedie faced various periods of detention, including solitary confinement, under the Terrorism Act as well as banning orders.
She was imprisoned for two months for refusing to give evidence against Winnie Mandela and 21 comrades who had been charged with furthering the aims of the African National Congress.
The apartheid state refused her exit permits to go into exile, until allowing her to leave the country following a campaign by supporters in South Africa and abroad, in which liberal Member of Parliament Helen Suzman had played a leading role.
President Ramaphosa said: “The passing of Shanthie Naidoo Tweedie causes us to revisit and pay tribute to the extraordinary contribution she made to our struggle for freedom.
“Shanthie Naidoo Tweedie was a hero who followed in the footsteps of her politically active family and sacrificially devoted her extended life to fighting for a free, non-racial South Africa.
“Her passing, on the eve of Women’s Month, draws our attention to the struggles women faced under apartheid and which spurred courageous women to confront a system founded on race and gender discrimination.
“As we mourn Shanthie Naidoo Tweedie’s passing, we also celebrate her legacy and that of the 20 000 women who marched to the Union Buildings 70 years ago as well as other women, who have made South Africa a better place for women and girls.
“We can only repay Shanthie Naidoo Tweedie by honouring her sacrifice and leadership, and continuing to make South Africa a nation that works for all, and especially women.
“May her soul rest in peace.”
Media enquiries: Vincent Magwenya, Spokesperson to the President – me...@presidency.gov.za
#GovZAupdates
Issued by The Presidency
______________
Trade,
Industry and Competition on SA exporters securing trade leads in Angola
27
Jul 2026
As the curtain comes down on the Feira Internacional de Angola (FILDA), which took place in Luanda from 21 to 26 July 2026, the South African business delegation is returning home with a bag full of promising trade leads. The businesspeople, who received support
from the Department of Trade, Industry and Competition (the DTIC), showcased their proudly South African products and services at the exhibition and registered promising trade leads with potential to translate into business opportunities.
The exporters represent the agro-processing, steel and metal fabrication, engineering and mining, and chemicals sectors.
The owner of La RicMal Wines, Mr Malcolm Green said he received a positive response from importers and distributors from the Angolan market, which he attributed to the quality, pricing and packaging of his products.
“We received a good response from importers and distributors based on the quality of the product, the price and the packaging. There are also businesses operating in Angola that serve markets beyond the country’s borders, including neighbouring countries such
as the Democratic Republic of Congo, Zambia and Namibia who showed interest in doing business with us. This creates an opportunity for products to enter Angola and subsequently move into other regional markets,” he said.
“My experience from FILDA is that the opportunity for South African businesses is now. FILDA has grown, and there is a clear appetite among the international business community to invest in Africa. I see Angola as a gateway, with FILDA serving as an important
conduit for South African businesses seeking to access other African markets,” he said.
Johannesburg-based steel fabrication company InfraPower Engineering used its participation at FILDA 2026 to explore new export opportunities, partnerships and collaborations across Africa and international markets.
According to the Managing Director of InfraPower, Mr Rakgomo Maetje, the company has engaged with potential clients and collaborators from Angola, Zimbabwe, India and other countries represented at the exhibition. It has also held discussions with the Chamber
of Commerce in Angola, which highlighted potential future projects, including transmission projects that could create opportunities for the company.
“The exhibition generated strong interest in our products, with visitors making inquiries and requesting pricing on some of the offerings. We are pleased that we participated and look forward to engaging further with the clients and potential clients we have
met,” said Rakgomo.
Lizwile Engineering was targeting strategic partnerships and new export opportunities in Angola, with a focus on supporting the country’s infrastructure, mining, energy and oil and gas sectors. According to the Executive Director of Lizwile Engineering, Ms
Nomagugu Mvelase, the company has established relationships with several companies in Angola during the exhibition and is exploring further collaboration with South African companies participating in the delegation.
“We are also pursuing opportunities in other African markets, including Ghana, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Namibia and Kenya. Our technical expertise and experience in delivering projects under challenging conditions positions us to contribute meaningfully to infrastructure
development across the continent,” said Mvelase.
According to the Director of Sales and Marketing at TLT-Turbo Africa, Mr Vusi Madlopha, TLT Turbo Africa is exploring opportunities in Angola’s growing oil and gas and mining sectors, with a particular focus on refinery upgrades and the development of underground
mining operations.
Madlopha said engaging with local markets provided an opportunity for businesses to learn about the languages and cultures that drive business in different African countries. “We believe it is a good opportunity for us to be here now and establish our structure
with the local agents we have identified so that we can exploit the business opportunities in this country,” added Madlopha.
The Founder and Brand Development Executive of the Eastern Cape-based Analit Africa Consumer Brands, the manufacturers of cooking oil, Mr Lungisa Lutshaba said the participation at FILDA 2026 has opened significant opportunities for partnerships, distribution
and investment as the company explores expanding its products into the Angolan market.
“We have identified potential distributors and partners interested in establishing relationships and investing in the business. We also engaged with representatives from a major bank, who requested a business plan, while major retailers and packaging companies
expressed interest in further discussions,” said Lutshaba.
Over 2 000 visitors were recorded at the South African pavilion, with 82 trade leads gathered by the companies, 341 buyers met with the companies, and 55 business-to-business meetings were facilitated at the South African pavilion.
The trade exhibition forms part of the government’s efforts to actively shape export markets by expanding opportunities for South African companies and improving the effectiveness of export promotion measures across the African continent.
Enquiries:
Bongani Lukhele
Director: Media Relations
Tel: 012 394 1643
Cell: 079 508 3457
WhatsApp: 074 299 8512
E-mail: BLuk...@thedtic.gov.zaor Mediare...@thedtic.gov.za
Issued by Department of Trade, Industry and Competition
Internationalism-Solidarity
New United Nations report reveals need for stronger international oversight of Artificial Intelligence
27 July 2026
In the wake of emerging evidence that unregulated Artificial Intelligence (AI) puts children at a disproportionate risk of harm, global leaders are calling for stronger AI controls to be implemented on the international level.
The United Nations’ inaugural Global Dialogue on AI Governance, held from 6 to 7 June in Geneva, brought together experts from government, business, and civil society to ensure that the future of AI prioritizes safety and human choice.
The centerpiece of the event was the presentation of the UN Independent Scientific Panel on AI’s Preliminary Report, an analysis of the societal impacts and risks of artificial intelligence by 40 international scientists and experts. The report confirms what
Education International recently asserted in its Network Meeting on AI: human connections, such as the teacher-student relationship, must remain at the core of AI and technological transformation.
“The question is no longer whether AI will transform our world – it already is,” stated UN Secretary-General António Guterres in his address. “The question is whether we will govern this transformation together – or let it govern us.”
Towards a unified strategy on AI regulation
This was not the first time that Secretary-General Guterres had called attention to the pressing matter of AI. In his very first address to the General Assembly in 2017, the Secretary-General warned of the technology’s potentially dramatic impact on labor markets,
security, and “the very fabric of societies.” As artificial intelligence gained greater ubiquity in the following years, the UN took more proactive steps to curb the technology’s influence, such as in its adoption of the Global Digital Compact in 2024.
However, the Preliminary Report represents the institution’s strongest statement on the subject to date, with its warning that AI could “cause catastrophic harm, either on its own or due to malicious users”, with the technology “outpacing both scientific understanding
and governments’ ability to adapt.”
The report makes specific mention of AI’s impact on marginalized populations, noting that biases in AI can lead to discrimination against women, children, and racial minorities. It also recognises the importance of teacher training, but only in the context
of preparation for the profession, while omitting mention of professional rights, impact on working conditions or involvement in decision making.
In addition, the report repeatedly mentions personalization as an important opportunity for AI in education, even as this supposed benefit remains largely unproven and often overlooks the relational, pedagogical and social dimension of learning. These concerns
warrant greater attention that Education International hopes will be considered in the follow-up to this event.
Need for caution when expanding AI's role in education
Children’s rights are highlighted as an area of particular concern, as the number of children’s likenesses used in AI deepfakes has been increasing at an alarming rate. In addition, the report notes that children are especially vulnerable to manipulation by
interactive AI, which poses risks to their development, safety, and wellbeing.
In response to these concerning trends, Secretary-General Guterres called on all UN member states to adopt an AI Child Safety Pledge, which would hold AI developers accountable to stricter testing and oversight standards.
“No child should be a guinea pig for unregulated AI,” Guterres stressed. “We do not let medicine reach a child until it is proven safe. We test every toy; yet AI has reached our children – their learning, their friendships, their most private questions, before
anyone asked what it would do to them.”
These concerns are particularly relevant for Education International and its member organisations, as tech companies push for greater AI integration in the classroom. Trade unions must continue to mandate that AI tools brought into the classroom setting are
properly vetted and tested, to ensure students are protected from manipulation and violations of privacy.
EI's latest report on AI, student development, safety and how it links to the teacher-student relationship, presented at the recent AI Network Meeting in Madrid, is available here: Teaching, AI, and the Human Core of Education : The Future Worth Defending.
Shaping labor-friendly AI policies
While participants at the dialogue also spoke to AI’s potential economic benefits, particularly in developing countries, they pointed out that these gains must not come at the expense of workers. The Preliminary Report notes that economic growth does not
automatically lead to equitable distribution; it requires good governance to ensure that these gains are shared by everyone. In addition to investing in AI, the report emphasizes that we need “complementary investments in skills, workflows, infrastructure
and labour-market institutions. Without them, AI risks widening inequality, displacing workers and shifting wealth from labour to capital rather than creating sustainable good jobs – those with fair compensation, worker autonomy and a reliable path to social
dignity.”
Representatives from the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC), along with Education International, welcomed the urgency and prominence of these remarks, while also stressing that several key aspects were missing from the conversation, such as the
impact of AI on work – including teachers and researchers – and the important role of policy and social-dialogue, as well as collective bargaining, in shaping work-related matters in addition to education and research policies.
With the next Dialogue scheduled for May 2027 in New York, the global labor movement must continue its coordination to bring labour issues to the forefront of the conversation around AI. Future events present an opportunity to delve deeper into AI’s impacts
on working conditions, ideally from a workers’ perspective, and elaborate on the role of collective bargaining in democratic AI governance. In order to fulfill the UN’s vision of an “AI that serves people everywhere,” workers and unions must have a seat at
the table.
Read the latest update from EI's AI and Technology team here:
English| Français| Español
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WFTU Statement on the 26th of July 2026 On the 73rd Anniversary of the Attack on the Moncada Barracks
by WFTU, 23 Jul 2026
The World Federation of Trade Unions (WFTU) salutes the heroic Cuban people on the occasion of the 73rd anniversary of the attack on the Moncada Barracks.
The 26th of July remains a historic milestone in the struggle of the peoples against exploitation and imperialist domination. The heroic action led by Fidel Castro and his comrades in Santiago de Cuba marked the beginning of the revolutionary process that culminated
in the triumph of the Cuban Revolution and inspired generations of workers and peoples throughout the world. The ideals of sovereignty, social justice, internationalism and workers’ dignity that emerged from Moncada continue to illuminate the struggles of
the international working class today.
This year’s anniversary takes place under conditions of intensified imperialist aggression against Cuba. The criminal economic, commercial and financial blockade imposed by the United States continues to suffocate the Cuban economy and deliberately creates
enormous difficulties for the Cuban people. The continued inclusion of Cuba on the arbitrary list of countries allegedly sponsoring terrorism further strengthens this unjust policy, restricting access to fuel, medicines, food, technology and essential resources,
while attempting to isolate socialist Cuba internationally.
Despite these unprecedented pressures, the Cuban working class and people continue to defend with dignity the achievements of their Revolution. Their resistance once again demonstrates that no blockade, no sanctions and no imperialist intervention can break
the determination of a people committed to their sovereign right to determine their own future.
The WFTU reiterates that Cuba is not alone!
The WFTU has already called upon its affiliates and friends to continue and intensify practical solidarity initiatives, including humanitarian assistance and material support for Cuban workers facing the serious consequences of the blockade. International solidarity
must be expressed not only through declarations but through concrete actions that strengthen the resilience of the Cuban people in the face of imperialist aggression.
At the same time, the international class-oriented trade union movement stands firmly alongside Cuban workers. Inspired by the unanimous decisions of the WFTU Presidential Council, our affiliates throughout the world continue to strengthen the Global Campaign
for Signature Collection, “Cuba is not alone! – FIRMO POR CUBA,” expanding solidarity in every workplace, every sector, every university and every community.
The WFTU also renews its demand for the immediate and unconditional end of the criminal blockade against Cuba, the removal of Cuba from the list of state sponsors of terrorism, and the return of Guantánamo to the Cuban people. These are indispensable conditions
for respecting international law, national sovereignty and the right of every people to freely choose its own political and social system.
On this historic anniversary, the WFTU pays tribute to all those who sacrificed their lives for the Cuban Revolution and expresses its profound admiration for the enduring example of revolutionary Cuba. An example of solidarity, peace, social progress and internationalism
that continues to inspire workers and peoples struggling against exploitation, war and imperialism across the globe.
The voice of the international class-oriented trade union movement will continue to be heard in every continent:
Hands off Cuba!
End the blockade now!
Cuba is not alone!
¡Viva el 26 de Julio!
______________________________
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