Taking COSATU Today Forward, 24 May 2024 #VoteANC
Norman Mampane
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COSATU TODAY #COSATU has deployed its National Leaders and CEC members across Gauteng to mobilize workers and their families to #VoteANC on May 29 #PoliticalStruggle=#ClassStruggle #ElijahBarayiBrigades #VoteANC #ClassStruggle “Building a strong and united COSATU in mobilizing for the ANC electoral victory” #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
24 May 2024
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Contents
- Workers Parliament: Back to Basics!
- SAMWU reaches agreement with Rustenburg Local Municipality ending the weeks-long strike
- South Africa
- COSATU statement on the pending retirement from Cabinet of the Minister for Trade, Industry and Competition (DTIC), Ebrahim Patel.
- SACTWU is tremendously proud of Ebrahim Patel
- SACP mourns the passing of Comrade Lindiwe Tshongwe, SACP Free State Deputy Chairperson
- International-Workers’ Solidarity!
- IndustriALL and global brands sign legally-binding agreements supporting collective bargaining and improvements in wages
Workers’ Parliament-Back2Basics
SAMWU reaches agreement with Rustenburg Local Municipality ending the weeks-long strike
Dumisane Magagula, SAMWU General Secretary, 24 May 2024
Following a three-week strike, the South African Municipal Workers' Union (SAMWU) has reached an agreement with Rustenburg Local Municipality to end the three week long protected strike at the municipality. The protected strike, which began on 6th May 2024, arose from longstanding grievances concerning the municipality's categorisation.
Our members in the municipality had for many years demanded that the Rustenburg Local Municipality be categorised in line with others of a similar size. A breakthrough was achieved on 22nd May after a full council meeting, resulting in parties entering into a settlement agreement. A key aspect of this agreement is the reclassification of Rustenburg to Category 6, effective from 1st July 2024. This will result in changes to resource allocation, employee benefits, and overall operations, bringing them into alignment with similar municipalities.
The agreement also establishes a Working Task Team to oversee implementation and benchmark Rustenburg against Category 7 municipalities. This will ensure that best practices are adopted for optimal service delivery to residents.
Significantly, SAMWU recruited over 100 new members from another union during the strike. This is seen as a strong vote of confidence in their leadership. SAMWU welcomes these new members and encourages others to join, aiming to strengthen their bargaining power nationwide. The union commends its Rustenburg members for their resilience and commitment in fighting for their rights.
This strike underlines the crucial role of trade unions and the power of collective action in achieving worker goals. The successful negotiation serves as a reminder of the importance of trade unions in advocating for workers' rights and improving working conditions.
SAMWU views this victory as a win for Rustenburg workers and a testament to the enduring strength of the South African trade union movement.
Issued by SAMWU Secretariat
COSATU statement on the pending retirement from Cabinet of the Minister for Trade, Industry and Competition (DTIC), Ebrahim Patel.
Matthew Parks, COSATU Acting National Spokesperson & Parliamentary Coordinator, 24 May 2024
The Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU) thanks Minister Patel, a proud son of the trade union movement, for his service not only to workers in his 3 terms as Minister, but the nation at large. Minister Patel was deployed to Cabinet, under the banner of our ally, the African National Congress. Comrade Patel has run his race. He has done workers and the nation proud. We are grateful for his service.
Minister Patel grew up as the son of a clothing worker, a member of the Southern African Clothing and Textile Workers’ Union (SACTWU). He has remained true to his roots in his tour of Cabinet. During his tenure at Economic Development and later DTIC, he ensured labour had a seat at the table during critical negotiations affecting the lives of workers; he put in place through various programmes, the foundations for a more equal economy; and solidified the social partnership between government, business and labour that is key to growing the economy, creating jobs, and slashing poverty and inequality.
COSATU is particularly proud of the victories workers have achieved under the leadership of Minister Patel, President Cyril Ramaphosa and the ANC administration, including:
- Rolling out the Employee Shareholder Ownership Programme that has enabled over 553 000 workers to own shares in their companies, thus boosting their wages.
- Parliament’s recent passage of the Companies Amendment Bills requiring greater transparency in company ownership to tackle corruption and money laundering but also for companies to disclose the wage gap between the highest and lowest paid employees as part of pushing the private sector to reduce their stark wage gap.
- Using the Competition Act’s public interest clause to negotiate fairer deals for SMMEs, value chains, workers’ jobs and ownership opportunities during mergers and acquisitions of large companies.
- Developing more than a dozen industrial master plans, bringing together government, business and labour to tackle blockages and unlock growth in key jobs rich sectors, ranging from poultry to sugar, from clothing and textiles to auto-manufacturing. Today we are seeing the fruits with the major retailers increasing their stock of locally produced clothes by 50%, the production of locally produced vehicles increasing by 25% over the past few years and support given to thousands of emerging sugar farmers from Mpumalanga to KwaZulu-Natal.
- Major new multi-billion Rand investments in motor manufacturing plants from Tshwane to Kariega, to TV and fridge manufacturing from Ladysmith to Atlantis.
- Strategic interventions and support from DTIC to protect and nurture local factories, from clothing to textiles, not only saving but also creating thousands of badly needed jobs.
- Ensuring that billions of Rands of South African mineral, vehicle, clothing and agricultural exports to the United States under the African Growth and Opportunities Act were secured and that the conversation was shifted during a very difficult geo-political period, to how AGOA can be strengthened to promote fair labour practises, and economic growth and jobs across South Africa and Africa.
- Negotiations to put in place the African Continental Free Trade Area that will unlock massive export opportunities for South African industries to the continent and create greater economic linkages that boost development in the entire region.
- Rooting out corruption that had become entrenched at the National Lottery Commission and is now resulting in the arrests of the implicated and the attachment of assets.
Minister Patel has come a long from the hardened streets of Parkwood, raised by a single mother. His journey has traversed various chapters of the liberation movement from a student activist at the University of Cape Town, to pounding the streets for the United Democratic Front, to playing a critical role in building SACTWU into a formidable champion of workers’ rights, to negotiating fairer deals for working class communities in Cabinet.
Whilst Ebrahim Patel, may not be young enough to qualify as Tintswalo, his remarkable journey from growing up in difficult times on the Cape Flats, to negotiating on behalf of the African continent for trade deals that uplift millions of working class families, is one that not only would his mother be proud of, but that SACTWU and the broader trade union led by COSATU are humbled by.
This is a good story, and one that has been made possible by the African National Congress.
It is these stories, that give hope to COSATU and are inspiring workers across South Africa to turn out in their millions on May 29th to return the ANC to office to continue building that better life for all.
Issued by COSATU
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SACTWU is tremendously proud of Ebrahim Patel
Bonita Loubster, SACTWU General Secretary, 24 May 2024
The COSATU-affiliated Southern African Clothing & Textile Workers Union is tremendously proud of out-going Trade, Industry & Competition Minister, Ebrahim Patel.
His 15 year service as a South African Cabinet Minister in some of the most challenging government portfolios has been service to the nation with distinction.
We have always known him to be a person with integrity, hardworking and innovative in whatever he does.
Classified coloured under apartheid, he grew up on the Cape Flats, reared by a single mother who worked as a seamstress in the clothing industry.
At age 16, he organised support among high school students, mosques and churches for African and coloured striking workers at a food factory, Fatis and Monis and was part of a group of students who formed an anti-apartheid high school student organisation.
He completed matric in 1979 with distinction, coming in the Top 10 in matric results nationally and registered for a degree at the University of the Western Cape (UWC).
In 1980, the young 18-year old led 100 000 high school and university students in a student strike against apartheid education, chairing the coordinating Committee of 81 meetings and was arrested and kept in Victor Verster prison for many months. He successfully finished his exams at UWC a few weeks after being released from prison.
A year later he was again detailed for organising students and communities and kept in solitary confinement.
Shortly after his release and return to university, he was rearrested by the security police the following year, and kept in detention in Soweto and later in police cells near Duduza. He was never charged.
He left university and worked in a research institute of the School of Economics at UCT, where he completed his degree.
After forming a union for workers at higher education institutions, he joined the textile union, working as a branch organiser and later as its national educator, and helped unite five different trade unions into a single organisation that SACTWU is today. He was later elected general secretary of the union.
After the 1994 elections, he chose to stay in the labour movement and represented workers in national and global forums, serving as the global spokesperson at the ILO on employment and social policy. He was appointed by President Mandela to the first Financial and Fiscal Commission and served on the committee that recommended far-reaching changes to South Africa’s university system and was on the Council of UCT for about a decade.
His time in government has seen tremendous advances in trade and industrial policy, and key advances in worker interests. These have been set out in numerous documents and are demonstrated in the jobs that were created. When he went into Cabinet in 2009, the clothing industry was in deep crisis, losing 15 000 jobs a year. His period of office in Cabinet saw the industry stabilised, with measures to protect local jobs and to help firms upgrade their machinery and competitiveness.
But perhaps Ebrahim Patel’s most lasting legacy in government, both for workers but also the society more broadly, will be what he has done to fight inequality, promote redistribution and build social partnerships. He brought fresh ideas to policy-making. He was hands-on and active. He was not afraid to tackle vested interests and showed enormous courage in fighting state capture during his period in Cabinet, protecting the IDC and competition authorities during a period when many public entities were captured. He spoke out openly against corruption during the height of state capture, for us most tellingly in a widely reported speech at a Sactwu Congress in 2016.
Many of the measures he drove, including modernising our competition regime and legislation, promoting black industrialists and worker share ownership programs, amending the companies' law, promoting investment and ensuring constructive dialogue between business, labour and government, have laid the basis for a country that is fairer and more equal.
We look forward to working closely with him in the next chapter of his public service. But we also grant him the opportunity to take time to rest!
Well done, Son of SACTWU and COSATU!
ISSUED BY
BONITA LOUBSER
SACTWU
GENERAL SECRETARY
If further comment is required, kindly contact SACTWU's National Operations & Policy Support Officer, Andre Kriel, on contact number 021 4474570 or email address heado...@sactwu.org.za.
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SACP mourns the passing of Comrade Lindiwe Tshongwe, SACP Free State Deputy Chairperson
Bhekie Stofile, SACP Free State Provincial Secretary, 21 May 2024
The South African Communist Party (SACP) in the Free State province and nationally mourns the death of Comrade Lindiwe Tshongwe, who untimely passed away today, 21 May 2024. Comrade Lindiwe was the SACP Free State Provincial Deputy Chairperson and ANC Women’s League Convenor for Fezile Dabi Region. She became the first SACP Executive Mayor elected to lead Metsimaholo Local Municipality, following direct electoral participation by the SACP in 2017.
At the time of her demise, Comrade Lindiwe was serving as MMC for Finance at the Municipality at the time of her death.
The SACP visited Comrade Lindiwe’s family this afternoon, led by Provincial Secretary Bhekie Stofile, and conveyed sincere condolences to the Tshongwe family for this profound loss encountered unexpectedly. In the same breath, the Party extends heartfelt condolences to the entire revolutionary movement she served diligently till her very last breath.
Comrade Lindiwe dedicated and lived a life of service to the people, the revolution and the movement. Under her stewardship as Executive Mayor of Metsimaholo Municipality, she lived up to the direct Party mandate to serve the people wholeheartedly, guided by revolutionary Party discipline. She defied various challenges encountered and determinedly touched many lives, especially of working-class and poor families during her tenure.
Comrade Lindiwe rose organically within the mass democratic movement, and earned respect amongst her comrades, young and seasoned alike. She made her mark as a gender activist, having been nurtured in the SACP Women’s Brigade programme and has previously advanced to serve in the Regional Executive Committee of the ANC Women’s League and Convenor of the Gender Commission in the SACP Provincial Executive Council. At the time of her death, she was the SACP Deputy Provincial Chairperson and Regional Convenor of the ANC Women’s League, working meticulously to renew and revive a programmes-driven Women’s League.
On the day of her hospitalisation, she spent the whole day campaigning in Metsimaholo for a decisive ANC electoral victory. Comrade Lindiwe spared no energy and campaigned tirelessly for the ANC, joining programmes initiated by ANC elections structures and also initiated several ANC Women’s League-led elections programmes and further driven various SACP-led campaigns in various parts of the province.
The SACP pays tribute to Comrade Lindiwe Tshongwe, and in her honour, we urge everyone to work even harder to mobilise for an overwhelming ANC electoral victory in the upcoming national and provincial elections. A vote for the ANC enhances the defence of our revolution and our democratic gains from reversal by reactionary and counter-revolutionary forces hellbent on fostering disunity and chaos amongst the people. In memory of Comrade Lindiwe, we commit ourselves to defeat these forces and ensure ANC victory on 29 May 2024.
ISSUED BY SACP FREE STATE
COSATU applauds the President's pending assenting to the National Council on Gender Based Violence and Femicide Bill on Friday 24 May 2024
Matthew Parks, COSATU Acting National Spokesperson & Parliamentary Coordinator, 23 May 2024
The Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU) welcomes President Cyril Ramaphosa’s pending assent of the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) Amendment Bill Friday morning 24 March 2024.
This is an historic Bill enhancing the powers of the NPA by providing for the establishment of an Investigating Directorate against Corruption within the NPA to pursue and institute criminal proceedings on cases of serious, high-profile or complex corruption or commercial or financial crimes arising from the recommendations of commissions of inquiry.
Parliament’s passage of this progressive Bill is yet another important anti-corruption milestone by government, acting upon the recommendations of the Zondo Commission into State Capture. It is a clear signal that under the leadership of President Ramaphosa, that the African National Congress’ efforts to cleanse and renew itself as well as government and society at large, are gaining critical momentum.
The Bill provides for the appointment of a retired judge to exercise oversight over the Directorate’s investigators and who will be tasked to deal with any persons interfering with investigators including those instances of any improper influence or interference, hindrance or obstruction, including political or any other, seeking to hinder investigations into instances of corruption.
The Federation believes this Bill and the establishment of the Investigating Directorate Against Corruption will provide a badly needed intervention for the NPA and the state in the war against corruption that has bled the fiscus of resources needed to provide public services to working class communities.
Issued by COSATU
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International-Solidarity
IndustriALL and global brands sign legally-binding agreements supporting collective bargaining and improvements in wages
23 May, 2024
In a breakthrough for the textile and garment industry in Cambodia, IndustriALL Global Union is signing legally binding agreements with global brands, for the first time achieving brand-supported collective bargaining agreements in the sector.
The individual, legally-binding, agreements that IndustriALL has been finalizing with global brands ensure brand support for collective bargaining agreements at their suppliers. In a global sector often marred by low wages and precarious working conditions, the agreements mark the first supply chain industrial relations approach – brands, employers and unions working together to address wages and collective bargaining. The CBA process, between the unions and the employers, is ongoing in parallel, and the commitment by brands will come into force as soon as a CBA is achieved.
Says IndustriALL general secretary Atle Høie:
“These individual agreements that we now have with brands to support collective bargaining in Cambodia’s textile sector are innovative and groundbreaking. Brands have legally committed
to uphold their production volume in Cambodia no matter the outcome of the new collective agreement, and have committed to ringfencing labour costs.
“This means that the brands will bear the costs of the collective agreement, and that there is no risk for our affiliates or the production sites in signing the agreement. We have worked on this for many years, and we finally see the result. This shows that
when you take time to build trust and understanding you can achieve great things.”
These legally-binding agreements are the result of a collaborative process with brands, employers and unions in Cambodia. Setting a new standard in supply chain industrial relations, these agreements foster sustainable structural transformation and support for sound industrial relations. It is an approach which combines investor and human rights due diligence expectations on in-country outcomes and addresses brand obligations on meaningful stakeholder engagement.
Cambodian union leaders welcome the agreements and the brands commitments.
Says Athit Kong, president of CCAWDU:
“This is a significant breakthrough supported by the Cambodian unions that will bring sustainable development to everyone in the industry. The agreement will hold everyone responsible and promotes social dialogue, which will mean increased competitiveness, better wages and better working conditions.”
Says Sokny Say, FTUWKC vice president:
“ACT is a good initiative but more importantly these support agreements are enforceable. We welcome the brand support. Cambodian workers suffer from hunger and debts; these agreements give priority to support improvements in workers’ well-being and to protect their rights.”
Says Pav Sina, CUMW president:
"The support from brands is crucial for workers and employers in Cambodia. The agreements can also benefit employers by retention of orders placed. This shows that all relevant stakeholder have a mutual interest in building industrial relations by implementing social dialogue."
IndustriALL is calling on all global brands and retailers sourcing from Cambodia to sign these individual agreements to support collective bargaining and improvements in wages and working conditions in Cambodia.
Contact IndustriALL textile and garment director Christina Hajagos-Clausen for more information.
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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