Taking COSATU Today Forward, 3 July 2026
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
3 July 2026
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Contents
- Workers Parliament: Back to Basics!
- UIF responds to BUSA's withdrawal from UIF Board and NEDLAC Structures
- South Africa
- COSATU urges quick solutions to prevent the closure of Transalloys
- International-Workers’ Solidarity!
- WFTU condemnation statement on the violation of democratic rights in view of the 36th NATO summit
- Oil and gas workers demand Just Transition and corporate accountability
Workers’ Parliament-Back2Basics #ClassWar
UIF
responds to BUSA's withdrawal from UIF Board and NEDLAC Structures
2
July 2026
The
Unemployment Insurance Fund (UIF) notes the decision by Business Unity South Africa (BUSA) to withdraw its representatives from the UIF Board and related National Economic Development and Labour Council (NEDLAC) structures.
It is common cause that participation in these statutory governance forums remains the prerogative of each social partner. The UIF has, in all material times, held the view that the effective discharge of public governance responsibilities is best achieved
through continued engagement, constructive dialogue and adherence to established institutional processes.
It is for that reason that the UIF engaged in good faith and utmost professionalism as required from a responsible government institution.
The UIF Board and NEDLAC are statutory governance structures established to facilitate consultation, accountability and consensus-building on matters affecting the labour market, social security and economic development. These structures are intended to provide
an institutional social dialogue platform, through which diverse and differing views are debated.
It is through social dialogue that evidence is considered, and policy positions are refined in the interest of the public.
Regrettably, withdrawal from these forums limits opportunities to influence governance outcomes through the very mechanisms established for that purpose. This is contrary to the principles underpinning South Africa's social dialogue framework, which places
a premium on sustained engagement, even where significant differences of opinion exist.
During the governance engagements, the UIF consistently advanced proposals aimed at strengthening institutional governance and improving labour market outcomes. These included the need to improve employer compliance with the Unemployment Insurance legislative
framework to protect contributors and beneficiaries, strengthen the financial sustainability of the Fund, and enhance service delivery.
The UIF consistently advocated for policy reforms that would enable government institutions to respond more rapidly and effectively to internal and external economic shocks affecting employment, while supporting interventions that preserve jobs, facilitate
labour market participation and reduce unemployment.
Unfortunately, the proposals by BUSA which the UIF needed further information to engage further on. Suggested coming up with processes that will change benefit processes. Especially because they are not in line with the UIF process.
While the Fund respects the right of all social partners to determine their level of participation in established forums, it is important to clarify several issues to ensure that the public is accurately informed.
The UIF remains firmly committed to the principles of social dialogue, transparency, and accountability that underpin NEDLAC.
The NEDLAC task team was established to provide a platform for government, organised business, organised labour, and the community constituency to engage constructively on matters affecting the Unemployment Insurance Fund and the broader labour market.
The UIF does not believe that disengagement is the most constructive approach to addressing the challenges facing the Fund or the South African labour market. Rather, the Fund is of the view that these challenges require continued collaboration and focused
discussions among all social partners to develop practical and sustainable solutions.
During recent engagements with the social partners, the UIF proposed that the task team's Terms of Reference be reviewed to better reflect current labour market realities, recognising that the committee was initially established during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Fund further proposed that the task team prioritise strategic issues, including:
Improving the efficiency and timeliness of benefit payments by addressing the root causes of delays, particularly employers' failure to submit accurate and up-to-date employee declarations.
Strengthening initiatives to expand access to UIF services and improving communication strategies to ensure that workers and employers are better informed about available services.
Supporting initiatives aimed at revitalising the labour market in response to persistently high unemployment and evolving economic conditions.
Exploring strategies to improve the resilience and labour intensity of the South African economy in the face of global economic pressures.
The UIF also reiterated its commitment to enhancing transparency. In this regard, the Fund has undertaken to explore the publication of the names of Labour Activation Programme (LAP) partners and to present the LAP Impact Report to NEDLAC once it has been finalised
during the current financial year.
The Fund acknowledges concerns raised regarding the frequency of reporting to the task team and has explained that reports forming part of quarterly performance reviews are subject to rigorous internal quality assurance and validation processes. As such, requiring
these reports on a monthly basis may compromise their quality and reliability.
The UIF remains committed to providing timely and accurate information while ensuring that reporting standards are maintained.
The UIF values the contributions of all NEDLAC constituencies and remains committed to constructive engagement with BUSA and all other social partners. The Fund's focus remains on improving service delivery, strengthening governance, enhancing transparency,
and working collaboratively to find solutions that benefit workers, employers, and the South African economy.
The UIF therefore rejects any suggestion that meaningful governance reform can be achieved outside the established statutory structures or through disengagement from the institutions created to facilitate oversight and social dialogue. Robust debate, differing
perspectives and critical scrutiny are integral components of good governance. However, these objectives are best realised through active participation in governance forums rather than withdrawal from them.
The UIF remains committed to transparent governance, accountability, compliance with the Public Finance Management Act and the Unemployment Insurance legislative framework, and constructive engagement with all social partners.
The Fund will continue to execute its mandate in accordance with the law and established governance processes and remains available to engage any stakeholder committed to advancing sustainable labour market reforms, strengthening institutional governance and
improving outcomes for workers, employers and the South African economy.
For media inquiries, please contact:
Teboho Thejane
Departmental Spokesperson
082 697 0694/ teboho....@labour.gov.za
-ENDS-
Issued by: Department of Employment and Labour
South Africa #ClassSolidarity
COSATU urges quick solutions to prevent the closure of Transalloys
Matthew Parks, COSATU Parliamentary Coordinator, 02 July 2026
The Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU) urges solutions quickly be found to prevent the closure of Transalloys, South Africa’s last remaining manganese smelter.
The loss of this strategic company would be a devastating blow to an already embattled economy and a society reeling from a 43.7% unemployment rate. We simply cannot afford to lose 600 direct and 7 000 indirect jobs, mostly in eMalahleni, Mpumalanga. It would mark a massive setback for South Africa’s efforts to reindustrialise the economy, expand local beneficiation and nurture value chains.
It is critical that Transalloys, Eskom, the Departments of Electricity and Energy plus Trade, Industry and Competition meet and pull out all stops to find solutions to this long simmering crisis. Closure of this smelter cannot be an option.
COSATU is confident that the reduced tariff relief package agreed to for similarly challenged smelters at Samancor Chrome and Glencore-Merafe Chrome Venture, provides a positive blueprint for Transalloys.
Whilst such an agreement is an absolute necessity and will provide badly needed breathing space for Transalloys, a longer-term solution is needed to place electricity tariffs back on a trajectory that is affordable for consumers, from working class communities to heavy intensive users, in particular smelters and the mining industry.
Key to making electricity affordable to unlock economic growth and ease the cost-of-living crisis for the working and middle classes, is to ensure that all consumers pay for electricity consumed. Municipal debt currently stands at over R120 billion and is rising by approximately R20 billion annually. Tackling this will enable Eskom to end its dependence upon above inflation tariff hikes and in fact begin to reduce the price of electricity and provide greater relief for indigent households.
COSATU will be engaging Eskom, government and industry to ensure that a win-win solution is put in place to save workers’ jobs at Transalloys and its value chain whilst enabling Eskom to fulfill its mandates.
Issued by COSATU
International-Solidarity
WFTU condemnation statement on the violation of democratic rights in view of the 36th NATO summit
by WFTU HQ, 30 June 2026
The World Federation of Trade Unions, the militant voice of 105 million workers, unequivocally condemns the violation of democratic and trade union rights in Turkey, in view of the 36th NATO Summit, which is going to take place in Ankara on 7–8 July.
This year’s summit is taking place in a period of intensification of the conflicts among the US., European Union and other imperialist states, the continuation and deepening of many critical war hotspots, and the rise of military expenditures, which sharpens
even more the confrontation and deepens the preparations and the risk of a generalized imperialist conflict with disastrous consequences for the popular strata and the ordinary people.
More particularly, the Turkish government almost decided to declare a lockdown in Ankara, prohibiting all actions for 13 days, from 28 June to 10 July, aiming to stop every protest and demonstration against the 2026 NATO Summit.
This decision blatantly violates every sense of democratic rights and limits the right to gather and protest. As a result of these unlawful and anti-democratic practices, already around 200 people have been arrested two weeks before the summit.
The WFTU expresses its undivided solidarity with its affiliates and other militant trade unions and progressive movements that are preparing for a massive protest demonstration next week against the NATO Summit and the bloody plans of the imperialists.
The international class-oriented trade union movement demands the immediate release of all the detained protesters, the full respect of democratic rights, and calls on workers all over the world to intensify their struggle for the dissolution of NATO and all
military coalitions, the complete abolition of nuclear weapons, and respect for the independence and sovereignty of all states.
_____________________
Oil and gas workers demand Just Transition and corporate accountability
29 June, 2026
IndustriALL Global Union had its Global Oil and Gas Network virtual meeting on 25 June 2026, bringing together affiliate unions from across the world
to confront a common crisis: workers in the oil and gas sector are being squeezed by geopolitical conflict, market volatility, corporate attacks on union rights and an energy transition that is moving faster than the jobs and infrastructure needed to support
it.
Emmanuel Adjei-Danso, IndustriALL director for mining and energy, opened the discussion by framing the structural pressures reshaping the sector: price instability, sanctions regimes, supply chain disruptions and the accelerating energy transition. He drew
out the central question that would run through the day: how do workers and their unions ensure that the transition is fair and that no one is left behind?
Regional voices: workers at the frontlines
Prosper Akrai, representing the National Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG) of Nigeria described the cascading consequences of Nigeria’s fuel subsidy removal in May 2023. The retail price of petrol has risen by approximately 643 per cent. Food
costs have surged, consuming close to 80 per cent of an average worker’s monthly income. The naira has collapsed. Workers face simultaneous wage erosion, casualization of employment and a worsening security situation.
Prosper Akrai also flagged a direct attack on union rights. NUPENG and its sister union have faced an organized campaign by Dangote Refinery, which deployed media, social media influencers and politicians to undermine the unions’ public standing after they
demanded workers be allowed the right to organize.
From the United States, Mike Smith, chair of the national oil bargaining programme for the United Steelworkers (USW), reported that BP has locked out approximately 900 workers at its Whiting, Indiana refinery since March 2026. BP refused to match a pattern
agreement reached with Marathon and is demanding the conversion of 100 union jobs to contract positions, multiple wage scales,and a management rights clause that would remove workers’ ability to bargain over the impact of artificial intelligence. Replacement
workers, paid two and a half times the union rate, are now running the 400,000 barrel-per-day facility at reduced capacity.
“We will continue to reach out if there are any engagements in any countries. We are going to chase British Petroleum across the world,”
Mike Smith said. He thanked IndustriALL and Unite for solidarity actions, including at BP’s shareholder meeting in London.
Naoki Kashima, executive chair of the JEC-Rengo Petroleum Subcommittee (Japan), described how Japan’s dependence on the Strait of Hormuz for more than 90 per cent of its crude oil imports makes it acutely exposed to regional conflict. Any disruption risks driving
up energy, food and logistics costs, potentially wiping out the wage gains Japanese unions have achieved in recent years.
Hassan Juma, president of the Iraqi General Federation of Oil, Gas and Petrochemical Unions (IGFOGPU), delivered the most urgent testimony of the day. Oil production in Iraq has fallen by approximately 70 per cent as a result of regional conflict. Over 2,500
workers employed by multinational companies have been sent home without wages. The multinationals have left; the workers have not been paid.
“The first and last person who is impacted is the worker contracted by these multinational companies, because they still have not been paid their wages since the beginning of the war,” Juma said. “They do not have healthcare, they do not have health insurance.”
He described workers labouring in temperatures reaching 47 degrees Celsius in Basra, with field conditions climbing to 50 and 60 degrees in summer. Iraq’s economy, he said, depends on oil revenues for 85 per cent of its federal budget, leaving wages, pensions
and public services entirely exposed to the disruption.
Tina Wilhelm of IGBCE (Germany) closed the regional panel by describing the structural contradiction facing Europe. Fossil energy remains essential for industrial stability, but long-term demand is uncertain. Companies are under-investing in both existing infrastructure
and future technologies and workers lack clarity on what their futures will look like. She argued that the energy transition will only succeed if it is industrially viable and socially just, with workers recognized as active shapers of the process, not passive
recipients of its consequences.
Holding capital accountable: Global Framework Agreements
Kemal Özkan IndustriALL assistant general secreatry outlined IndustriALL’s strategy of using Global Framework Agreements to hold multinationals to labour standards across their entire supply chains, regardless of what national law requires.
“Global Framework Agreements provide the leverage for our core business: union organizing,” Özkan said. “Through the clauses where the employer commits to respect freedom of association and collective bargaining, we also make an important move around social
dialogue.”
He reported that IndustriALL’s agreement with ENI was renewed in January 2026, with new commitments on human rights due diligence and the integration of ILO Convention 190 on violence and harassment. Agreements with TotalEnergies and Engie are also active,
the latter including an explicit commitment to Just Transition and sustainable employment. He called for renewed engagement with Petrobras following Brazilian elections in October 2026 and reaffirmed IndustriALL’s full solidarity with the USW workers locked
out by BP.
Conclusions: solidarity, heat stress and a multi-year action plan
The conclusions noted that heat stress had emerged as a cross-cutting occupational health issue. IndustriALL and the ILO are in discussion on a programme to address heat stress across the sector, including dedicated training.
Frode Alfheim, co-chair of the IndustriALL Energy Sector and president of Styrke (Norway) closed with a call for global solidarity, reflecting on the testimony from Nigeria and Iraq.
“This is a global industrial issue where we have to work together to make sure they get the support they need,”
he said.
He noted that Norway’s success in managing oil revenues for public benefit had its roots in expertise brought from Iraq in the late 1960s and called on the network to build on that history of cross-border knowledge and solidarity.
Participants agreed to develop a multi-year action plan linking affiliate unions across the global oil and gas supply chain.
______________________________
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