COSATU Today, 29 April 2013
Norman Mampane
COSATU Today
Our side of the story
Monday 29 April 2013
‘Strengthen COSATU for total emancipation’
Contents
Workers’ Parliament
Ø Zwelinzima Vavi, General Secretary of COSATU to speak at a breakfast debate in Northern Cape tomorrow
Ø Alliance Draft Deployment for COSATU 2013 May Day Rallies
Ø Bohlokong Stadium to host May Day Rally at Free State
Ø COSATU Mpumalanga to host a May Day Gala at Steve Tshwete Municipality
Ø Enabling COSATU Members to Tweet Effectively
South Africa
Ø Response to the Mail and Guardian article on Comrade Sidumo Dlamini
Ø Address by President JG Zuma at the Freedom Day Celebrations
Ø ‘Buying power and lack of regular exercise the reasons for the country’s high rate of non-communicable diseases’ -Dietician warns DENOSA wellness workshop
International
Ø Quality public services for all on International Workers’ Day-01 May 2013
Ø EI engages in high-level dialogue on quality education
Ø Rubber unions strengthen global networks
Ø Call for the release of trade unionist Wonder Mkhonza charged with sedition in Swaziland
Ø Bangladesh: Clothing Brands Attacked for Callous Indifference
Ø New Zealand Public Service Association celebrates 100th anniversary
Ø President Jacob Zuma congratulates Italian Prime Minister
Ø Ver.di wins pay rise in new Deutsche Post agreement
Ø International Workers Memorial Day remembers Dhaka victims
Comment
Ø Bangladesh Disaster - Who pays the real price of your shirt or blouse?
Announcements
Ø LRS Inflation Monitor March 2013 is out for grabs!
Ø The WWMP/COSATU Labour Film Festival-Is Coming To Your Town!
Ø Media communications course for trade unionists and activists coming in 2013!
Ø COSATU skinning in the game of social media-Enabling the trade union movement to nurture a communicative platform
Ø Follow Fred van Leeuwen on Twitter!-EI GS
Ø Follow ITUC Secretary General-Sharan Burrow
Workers’ Parliament!
Zwelinzima Vavi, General Secretary of COSATU to speak at a breakfast debate in Northern Cape tomorrow
Patrick Craven, National Spokesperson, 29 April 2013
Zwelinzima Vavi, General Secretary of COSATU, will be a speaker at a breakfast debate on Economic growth, Leadership development and Transformation, hosted by the Black Management Forum, Northern Cape.
The details are:
Date: Tuesday 30 April 2013
Time: 07h30 for 08h00
Venue: Oryx Game Lodge, Farm Retreat, Kuruman, Northern Cape
The media are welcome to attend and report.
______________
Alliance Draft Deployment for COSATU 2013 May Day Rallies
There are 25 COSATU confirmed rallies throughout the country.
The main national May Day rally will be held in the Northern Cape (Kimberley Galeshewe Stadium) in memory of the workers who lost their lives ten years ago on their way from Kimberley to a May Day rally in Qwaqwa.
(The march planned for Manzini in Kwa Sithebe is no longer taking place.
The rally for Karoo in Beaufort West has been cancelled).
“A united working class for a radical economic transformation”
PROVINCE | RALLY | VENUE | CONTACT PERSON | COSATU SPEAKER & DEPLOYEES | ANC SPEAKERS | SACP |
Northern Cape |
Kimberley (National Rally) |
Galeshewe Stadium |
Anele Gxoyiya 082 401 6598
Manne Thebe 082 339 5907 |
Cde Sidumo Dlamini (COSATU President) Cde Dorcas Sekabate (SADTU Vice Pres Gender) Cde Thamsanqa Piet Matosa (NUM Deputy President) Cde Cecil Mokhantso (CWU President) Cde Raymond Mnguni (FAWU 1st Deputy President) Cde Lorraine Baitsiwe (SAMWU 2nd Deputy President)
|
PRESIDENT Comrade Jacob Zuma |
Cde Blade Ndzimande: General Secretary |
Free State |
Bethlehem |
Bohlokong Stadium
|
Sam Mashinini 079 835 4020
Monyatso Mahlatsi 076 115 9923 |
Cde Zwelinzima Vavi (COSATU General Secretary) Cde Simba Marumo (SAFPU President) Cde Zanele Hoko (CWU 2nd Deputy President) Cde Fezeka Loliwe (SADTU Vice President) Cde Madithapo Masemola (DENOSA Deputy General Sec) |
Secretary General Comrade Gwede Mantashe
|
Cde Thulas Nxesi: Dep National Chairperson |
Eastern Cape |
Amathole (East London) |
ABSA Stadium |
Mandla Rayi 082 779 2466 |
Cde Frans Baleni (NUM General Secretary) Cde Clyde Marvin (CWU 1st Deputy President) Cde Veronica Hofmeester (SADTU Vice President) |
Comrade Lindiwe Sisulu |
Cde Mandla Makupula |
Nelson Mandela Metro
|
Uitenhage |
Mkhawuleli Maleki 082 339 5482 |
Andrew Chirwa (NUMSA 1st Deputy President) Cde Kate Matlou (SATAWU 2nd Deputy President) |
Comrade Ayanda Dlolo |
Cde Crosby Moni | |
OR Tambo
|
Port St Johns |
|
Cde June Dube (SATAWU President) Cde Mzomhle Gazi (SASAWU President)
|
Comrade Bathabile Dlamini |
Cde Lindelwa Dunjwa | |
Chris Hani |
Queenstown - Stadium |
|
Cde Manelisi Tyatyantsi (SASAWU General Secretary Cde Lucas Maphila (SADTU Deputy President) Cde Percy Bogosi (SASAWU Deputy GS) |
National Chairperson Comrade Baleka Mbethe |
Cde Mzolile Murara | |
Joe Gqabi
|
Aliwal North – Community Hall |
|
Cde Zenzo Mahlangu (SATAWU General Secretary) Cde Thozama Mantashe (NEHAWU 2nd Deputy President) Cde Mosidi Maboye (SADNU Deputy General Secretary) |
Comrade Stone Sizani |
Cde Bulelwa Tunyiswa | |
Cacadu |
Humansdorp - Community Hall |
|
Cde Mzwandile Makwayiba (NEHAWU President) Cde David Macatha (NUM Treasurer) Cde Vuyokazi Fayindlala (SASAWU 2nd Deputy Pres.) |
Comrade Lynne Brown |
Cde Xolile Nqatha | |
Alfred Nzo
|
Mount Frere - Community Hall |
|
Cde Thembeka Gwagwa (DENOSA General Secretary) Cde Cde Khumo Motaung (SASAWU Treasurer) |
Comrade Nosiviwe Maphisa-Nqakula |
Cde Phel Parkies | |
Mpumalanga |
Steve Tshwete municipality (Middelburg) |
Mhluzi Stadium |
Fidel Malombo 082 719 5699
|
Cde Senzeni Zokwana (NUM President) Cde Thulasizwe Sibande (CEPPWAWU Treasurer) Cde Nkosana Dolopi (SADTU Deputy General Secretary) Cde Sylvia Diase (SADNU Treasurer) |
Comrade Dikiledi Magadzi
|
Cde Madala Masuku |
Mbombela municipality |
Ka Nyamazane Community Hall
|
David Mokoena 073 750 2041 |
Cde Bheki Ntshalintshali (Deputy General Secretary) Cde Lindiwe Motshwua (SADTU Treasurer) |
Deputy Secretary General Comrade Jessie Duarte |
Cde Ben Martins | |
Limpopo |
Tzaneen |
Mopane District Kgapane Stadium, Tzaneen
|
Dan Sibabi 082 779 2421 |
Cde Katishi Masemola (FAWU General Secretary) Cde Isaac Ramputha (SASBO) Cde Samual Seathlolo (CEPPWAWU Deputy GS) |
Comrade Tito Mboweni |
Cde Jerry Thibedi |
Waterburg |
Lephalale Marapong Stadium
|
Louisa Nxumalo 082 339 6004 |
Cde Phophi Ramathuba (SAMA General Secretary) Cde Sam Malope (SAMWU President) |
Comrade Thoko Didiza |
Cde Chris Mathlako | |
North West |
Rustenburg |
Olympia Stadium |
Solly Phetoe 082 304 4055 |
Cde Tyotyo James (COSATU 1ST Deputy President) Cde Louise Thipe (SACCAWU acting President) Cde John Tladi (DENOSA) |
Deputy President Comrade Cyril Ramaphosa |
Cde Joyce Moloi - Moropa |
|
Ngaka Modiri Molema |
Delareyville Sports Ground |
|
Cde Angie Phetlhe (SACCAWU Deputy President) Cde Mphumzi Maqungo (NUMSA National Treasurer) |
Comrade Obed Bapela |
Cde Nomonde Rasmeni |
Ruth Mompati |
Morokweng Stadium |
|
Cde Walter Theledi (SAMWU General Secretary) Cde Eunice Dlodlo (CEPPWAWU 2nd D. President) Cde Joe Kokela (SASBO President) |
Comrade Nomvula Mokonyane |
Cde Charles Setsubi | |
Dr. Kenneth Kaunda |
Ventersdorp Tshing Stadium |
Kopano Konopi 082 339 5836 |
Cde Fikile Majola: NEHAWU (General Secretary) Cde Moleko Pakedi (FAWU Deputy GS) Cde Moses Miya (SAMWU Deputy GS) |
Comrade Joe Phaahla |
Cde Grace Pampiri – Bothma | |
Gauteng |
Sharpeville |
George Thabe Stadium |
Dumisani Dakile 079 511 3303
Matserane 083 587 2766 |
Cde Irvin Jim (NUMSA General Secretary) Cde Joe Mpisi (NEHAWU 1st Deputy President) Cde Mabutho Sithole (CWUSA President) Cde Lucas Mashego (CEPPWAWU 1st Deputy President) Cde Mike Tau (SACCAWU 2nd Deputy President) Cde Gati Malete (SAMWU Treasurer) Cde Kenny Basjan (SASAWU 1st Deputy President) |
Comrade Nathi Mthethwa |
Cde Solly Mapaila |
KwaZulu Natal |
Durban (Main Rally) |
Curries Fountain |
Zet Luzipho 072 884 3456
|
Cde Thobile Ntola (SADTU President) Cde Beauty Zibula (SACTWU Deputy President) Cde Mduduzi Mbongwe (SACCAWU Deputy G. Secretary) Cde Sithile Jene (SADNU President) |
Comrade Jeff Radebe |
Cde Jeremy Cronin |
Newcastle |
Farmers Hall |
Khaliphile Cotoza 082 717 7447 |
Cde Cedric Gina (NUMSA President) Cde Prabir Badal (NEHAWU Treasurer) Cde Nicholas Maziya (SATAWU Deputy GS) Cde Thandeka Msibi (DENOSA) |
Comrade David Mahlobo |
Cde Buti Manamela | |
Mhlathuze (Richardsbay) |
Esikhawini College |
|
Cde Themba Khumalo (SACTWU President) Cde Tshimane Montoedi (NUM Deputy General Secretary) Cde Allois Gumede (SACCAWU Treasurer) |
Comrade Lindiwe Zulu |
Cde Judy Malqueeny | |
Western Cape |
Cape Town
|
Stadium |
Tony Ehrenreich 082 773 3194 |
Cde Atwell Nazo (FAWU President) Cde Lionel Brown (CWU Treasurer) |
Comrade Malusi Gigaba |
Cde Sheila Barsel |
South Cape |
Knysna |
Mike Louw 082 339 5442 |
Cde Freda Oosthuysen (COSATU National Treasurer) Cde Mark Olivier (FAWU Treasurer) Cde Yandiswa Nandi Dayile (SATAWU Nat. Treasurer) |
Comrade Zweli Mkhize |
Cde Adriaan William | |
Boland |
Ceres |
|
Cde Karl Cloete (NUMSA Deputy G.Secretary) Cde Elizabeth Manoto (FAWU 2ND Deputy President) Cde Fredie Mohai (SADNU General Secretary) |
Comrade Tina Joemat Pettersson |
Cde Godfrey Olifant | |
West Coast |
Saldanah Bay |
|
Cde Suraya Jarwadeen (NEHAWU Deputy GS) Cde Nadeema Syms (SATAWU 1st Deputy President) Cde Olga Makhubela Nkondo (DENOSA) |
Comrade Fikile Xasa |
Cde Lechesa Tsenoli |
_____
Bohlokong Stadium to host May Day Rally at Free State
Sam Mashinini, COSATU Free State Provincial Secretary, 29 April 2013
The Congress of South Africa Trade Unions in Free State will host its Provincial May Day Rally at Bethlehem and other details are as follows;
- Date: 1 May 2013 (Wednesday)
- Time: 08h30
- Venue: Gobble Park Stadium, Bethlehem Dihlabeng
Speakers:
- ANC: Gwede Mantashe [ANC Secretary General]
- SACP: Thulas Nxesi [SACP National Chairperson]
- COSATU: Zwelinzima Vavi [COSATU General Secretary]
Contact:
Sam Mashinini
082 563 6954
Monyatso Mahlatsi
0761159923
____________
COSATU Mpumalanga to host a May Day Gala at Steve Tshwete Municipality
Fidel Mlombo, COSATU Mpumalanga Provincial Secretary, 29 April 2013
The Congress of South Africa Trade Unions in Mpumalanga will host a May Day Gala as below scheduled.
Date : 30 April 2013
Time : 18h00 – 24h00
Venue: Steve Tshwete Municipality (Nkangala District Offices)
And the media is invited to the COSATU Mpumalanga Gala Dinner.
The Gala Dinner is held as one of the COSATU May Day celebration activities held under the Theme”, A United working class for a radical economic transformation.”.
COSATU will use the May Day celebration activities to campaign for the following:-
Ø Radical economic transformation
Ø Total banning of the labour brokers
Ø Defending centralised bargaining
Ø Fight poverty inequality and unemployment
Ø Organise and defend the vulnerable workers
Ø Expose corruption
Ø Unite workers, defend COSATU
Ø An end to the gender based violence
The Gala Dinner will be addressed by both the Honourable Premier DD Mabuza and the Minister of Economic Development – Ebrahim Patel
For more information please contact the Provincial Secretary Fidel Mlombo @ 0827195699
____________________________________________________________
Enabling COSATU Members to Tweet Effectively
Introduction to COSATU Official Twitter Accounts
Ø @COSATU2015
Official tweets on current affairs, ideological disposition and for a Question & Answer platform
Ø @COSATU TODAY _cosatu
Seconds- COSATU roving official tweets on events, quotable sound-bites on speeches/interviews, newsflash etc.
How to Register a COSATU Member Twitter Account
Ø Go Google and type twitter/sign up
Ø Versions of name/surname must be completed
Ø Choose a username/password and don’t forget them
Ø Update your profile; picture, bio
o Picture size should be 700k
o Bio-short narrative who you are
Ø Examples of Bio; Africa's largest Federation Official tweets, the home of the toiling classes across the world, with more than 2million membership...Amandla! Johannesburg, South Africa · http://www.cosatu.org.za
Ø Choose who to follow and type @cosatu2015 and @COSATU TODAY _cosatu
Ø And you’re skinning in the game through COSATU tweets
Communicating messages that matter is like artwork
Social Media generation is here and is unavoidable
‘Let’s skin in the game of COSATU Tweets’
South Africa
Response to the Mail and Guardian article on Comrade Sidumo Dlamini
Jackson Mthembu, ANC National Spokesperson, 27 April 2013
The African National Congress rejects the malicious story covered by the Mail & Guardian newspaper yesterday which alleges that in the last ANC NEC meeting, firstly the President of the ANC in his overview said that there were `tendencies in Cosatu that need to be nipped in the butt`.
Secondly equally untrue, is that Comrade Sidumo Dlamini has `assured the ANC`s top leadership that he will work to prevent further criticism of the ruling party and government by wayward members of the trade union federation`, when addressing the last ANC NEC meeting, it is further alleged that `he together with Fikile Majola a fellow NEC member told the meeting that `a process is underway to deal with bad apples in the federation`.
Not only is this accusation lies it is also calculated to cause divisions in the ANC led Alliance.
Contrary to the article`s claim, when Comrade Sidumo spoke, he said `ANC leaders should not be apologetic in criticising Cosatu, as Cosatu is not apologetic when criticizing the ANC where criticism is due. It is also important to emphasize that Comrades; Sidumo Dlamini and Fikile Majola did not attend the NEC meeting on behalf of Cosatu but as ANC NEC members and therefore it was not possible for them to raise Cosatu issues in an ANC meeting.
What is concerning, is that the journalist who wrote the story did not approach any of the spokespersons including the Secretary General of the ANC to verify the version as given by the so-called `sources`. Instead they approached Comrade Sidumo who is not a spokesperson of the ANC as there are structures to comment on NEC meetings.
It is therefore correct that Comrade Sidumo refused to comment.
This leaves us to deduce that there was a conscious collaboration between the journalist and the `source` to present an untrue story with the sole purpose to cause disunity of the alliance and to project Comrade Sidumo and Majola negatively.
It is worth noting that it comes in the footsteps of other unverified and malicious stories written by the same newspapers.
It is also utterly untrue that the processes underway within Cosatu, which the ANC is not aware of and is not party to, are furthering the agenda of the ANC and other allied organisations to remove comrade Zwelinzima Vavi as the General Secretary of Cosatu.
The ANC was also not contacted before this matter was publicised. The ANC has not and will not be party to a process that undermines unity within the labour federation.
If anything, we will do anything within our power to strengthen unity of the labour federation. Any divisions or factions, whether imagined or real, within Cosatu are not in the interest of the ANC nor are they enhancing the struggle of the workers or of South Africans to achieve a better life.
The ANC remains unshaken by this and other accusations recently that sought to suggest that there are divisions between the ANC and Cosatu.
These allegations are meant to `drag` the ANC into internal controversial matters within Cosatu.
Cosatu remains are federation that we respect and an equal partner in the Alliance, therefore the ANC will not interfere with its organisational challenges by taking any sides.
We are also concerned about the corrosion of credible journalism which has been sacrificed in favor of tabloid type sensationalism which is void of ethical and professional reporting.
We expect the Mail and Guardian to retract their story or we will take the matter to the Ombudsman.
Issued by:
Jackson Mthembu
National Spokesperson
African National Congress
__________
Address by President JG Zuma at the Freedom Day Celebrations
Jacob Zuma, Union Buildings, Pretoria, 27 April 2013
Honourable Deputy President,
Chief Justice of the Republic,
Speaker of the National Assembly,
Chairperson of the National Council of Provinces,
Ministers, Premiers, Deputy Ministers, MECs,
Members of Parliament and provincial legislatures,
Heads of chapter 9 institutions,
Executive Mayor of Tshwane and all Mayors present,
Members of the Diplomatic Corps and all international guests,
Fellow South Africans,
Molweni, dumelang, sanibonani, good day to you all!
We have come together to celebrate the most important day on the calendar of our young nation.
On this day, we look back with pride as a nation because the struggle for national liberation achieved its primary purpose.
We achieved the elimination of apartheid colonialism and institutionalized racism and replaced, it with a new society founded on human rights, equality, justice, dignity, peace and stability.
Together we affirmed the assertion of our wise and forward looking forebears who stated in the Freedom Charter, that South Africa belongs to all who live in it, and that no government can justly claim authority unless it was based on the will of all the people.
Our transformation journey began immediately after elections in 1994, under the leadership of President Mandela and later President Thabo Mbeki.
During the first ten years of democracy alone, the democratic Parliament approved 789 laws or amendments to eliminate racism from our statute books.
From the fragmented public administrations of the apartheid era we constructed a unitary state, nine provinces and a reconfigured municipal landscape.
As we look back at the road travelled since 1994, we recall that it has not been easy. It was never going to be easy. But we have made tremendous progress.
We are a very humble nation. We do not boast about our achievements. We also tend to be highly critical of ourselves.
But on this special day, we must declare that we are a truly remarkable nation for walking away from that evil system of governance that was declared a crime against humanity by the United Nations. When the going gets tough at times, we look back at how far we have come. There were episodes that could have made a less resilient nation lose hope and give up.
A case in point is the senseless assassination of one of the key leaders of the ANC and SACP, Mr Chris Hani and also the horrific Boipatong massacre at a critical point of negotiations.
To outsiders, South Africa was heading towards a civil war. We made the right choice. The nation subjected itself immediately to the leadership of the then ANC President Mandela and we overcame anger, frustration and helplessness. We returned to the negotiating table to build our future.
Together we went on to have a historic peaceful election and achieved a transition that was declared a miracle by the world as they were truly surprised by the success. It was not really a miracle. We worked very hard to achieve that transition.
Thanks to our hard work and putting our country first before sectional interests, today we live in a country with a Constitution that guarantees the rights of all irrespective of their race, gender, ethnicity, creed or sexual orientation.
We enjoy the right to equality, to freedom of expression and assembly, the rights of workers, women, and children as well as rights to culture and languages.
We have socio-economic rights which other nations avoid putting in their Constitutions.
Importantly compatriots, since 1994, we have made significant progress in healing the wounds of our unhappy past.
We went through the Truth and Reconciliation Commission process in order to confront the demons of our past. Very few countries brave this exercise for fear that it would backfire and cause more conflict.
We are moving ahead to promote unity and social cohesion. In April last year more than a thousand delegates met in Kliptown for the National Summit on Social Cohesion.
The conference appointed eminent women and men as Advocates for Social Cohesion, such as Ms Sophie de Bruyn, Judge Yvonne Mokgoro, Advocate George Bizos, Ms Brigalia Bam and others.
We must all participate in making the country’s social cohesion programme a success.
Compatriots,
If we are to genuinely say that South Africa belongs to all who live in it; then all our people must be able to equitably share in the benefits of a free society.
The triple manifestations of the apartheid legacy - poverty, inequality and unemployment - reaffirm our belief that political freedom must be accompanied by economic freedom, as the next phase of liberation.
The economic wealth of the country must bring about fundamental social change in the lives of all, especially the youth, the poor and the working class.
It is for this reason that we have adopted the National Development Plan as our socio-economic development blueprint, to help us further implement the vision outlined in the Freedom Charter and the Constitution of the Republic.
The adoption and acceptance of the National Development Plan by all parties in the National Assembly and almost all sectors of society is yet another magnificent achievement of this remarkable nation.
It brings us closer to achieving the vision of our forebears and the mission of building a truly united, non-racial, non-sexist, democratic and prosperous South Africa.
In celebrating our democracy and freedom of expression, we must allow the space for those who still wish to engage the National Development Plan and raise their concerns or suggest improvements.
But we are forging ahead with implementation, building on the successes of the past 19 years.
Indeed, the results of Census 2011, released last year, revealed substantial progress already in the expansion of basic services such as water, sanitation, electricity, housing and others.
Njengoba sigubha usuku lwenkululeko namhlanje, sibonga ukuthi ukuhlukumezeka kwaphambilini, kwabantu abamnyama bephathiswa okwezifiki bengenasithunzi ezweni labo, sakuqeda sibambisene sonke ngonyaka ka- 1994.
Impilo iyathuthuka kubo bonke abantu njalo nje.
izibalo ziyakhombisa ukuthi sebandile impela abantu asebefakelwe ugesi, amanzi nasebakhelwe izindlu nokunye.
Kodwa siyazi ukuthi akwanele, asikakaqedi ngoba isibalo sabantu abantulayo sikhulu kakhulu. Abantu abamnyama babeshiywe ngemuva kakhulu ngesikhathi sobandlululo.
Sizoqhubeka nokusebenza ngokuzikhandla, sibambisene nemiphakathi, ukulungisa izindawo ezihlala abantu nokuletha izidingo.
Lokho kuzokwenza ukuba izithelo zenkululeko zibonakale kuzo zonke izinkalo kulelizwe.
Housing continues to be a challenge, but progress is being made.
The RDP housing programme has built over three million housing units since 1994.
The percentage of households with access to potable water has increased from 60 per cent to over 90 per cent. Access to electricity has increased from 50 per cent of households to approximately 80 per cent.
While income inequality remains high, the expansion of our social grants system from 2, 7 million people in 1994 to 16 million currently has contributed to a significant reduction in the proportion of households living in poverty.
The further extension of basic services requires the public service to be more efficient, effective and caring, in order to make people’s experience of government a pleasant one.
There are many achievements on the economic front as well. The South African economy has expanded by 83 per cent over the past 19 years.
The national income per capita has increased from R27 500 in 1993 to R38 500 in 2012, which is an increase of 40 per cent. Disposable income per capita of households has increased by 43 per cent.
Total employment has increased by more than 3.5 million since 1994.
The average real wages in mining and industry have increased by over 150 per cent since 1994 for which we congratulate business and labour.
Our country’s economy continues to perform well in many areas including infrastructure, institutions, goods and market efficiency, financial market development, technological readiness, business sophistication and innovation.
Only yesterday we received the exciting news that South Africa has won the Offshoring Destination of the Year Award for 2013, from the European Outsourcing Association. This confirms our status as a leading business process outsourcing destination of choice.
On the 25th of April, we announced a whopping 10.2 percent increase in tourist arrivals to our country for 2012, while the world average increase is at around four percent.
In 1993, South Africa received a mere 3.4 million foreign visitors.
By 2012, the figure had grown by 300 percent to 13.5 million visitors, of which 9.2 million were tourists. This is an outstanding achievement for a country that was once a pariah state. The fruits of our freedom have indeed come in many forms!
The financial sector remains robust and healthy, with strong growth in turnover on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange, highly liquid capital markets and a well regulated banking and financial services industries. This remains one of the primary selling points of our country globally.
We also celebrate progress in the communications sector. As of last week, there were 63 million cellular phone subscribers in the country, across the networks.
Other than demonstrating a very conversational nation, this achievement should position South Africa very well on her journey towards creating the robust knowledge and information society envisaged in the National Development Plan.
In other communications industry achievements, 37 new post offices were opened last year, mostly in rural areas. South Africans visited SA Post Office branches 81 million times last year for various services.
Another 2.3 million people renewed their vehicle registrations at the post office. And this past year, 4.3 billion rand was deposited into the Postbank, which has 4.5 million customers, mostly the working class and the poor.
We are also proud of achievements in infrastructure development. Building on previous successes such as the 2010 FIFA World Cup projects, we have undertaken major national road improvements and have begun the expansion of power generation and rail transport capacity.
The total value of infrastructure projects currently under way and in planning amounts to over 3.6 trillion rand.
Compatriots,
We cannot allow corruption to steal the fruits of our freedom. Positive inroads are being made in the fight against corruption by various state agencies.
In 2010 we established the Justice, Crime and Prevention Security Cluster’s Anti-Corruption Task Team, to fast-track high-priority and high-profile corruption cases. The team works with government departments to strengthen governance systems, reduce risks and prevent corruption.
By the end of December 2012, criminal investigations were initiated against 237 persons by the task team and 21 staff members within the criminal justice system were convicted.
A total of 718 persons are currently under investigation for corrupt activities. Freezing Orders to the value of more one billion rand have been obtained.
In addition, I have signed 34 proclamations between 2009 and 2013, directing the Special Investigating Unit to investigate various government departments and state owned entities.
The Unit has completed some of the investigations and will be sending reports to the Presidency.
A lot of good work is being done by a host of other state agencies to fight corruption and we congratulate them on their good work. We encourage the private sector to also assist us by intensifying the fight against corruption within its own ranks.
Compatriots,
Our national priority going forward is economic transformation and the continued implementation of programmes to fight poverty and inequality and to alleviate unemployment.
The gap between white and black households, for obvious historical reasons, remains wide as revealed by Census 2011, with white households earning six times more than black households.
The transformation of ownership and management of the economy continues.
It is encouraging that over 600 billion rand of black economic empowerment transactions have been recorded since 1995. Another success story is that the number of Black people and women in senior management has increased from less than 10% in the 1990s to over 40% today. However, accelerated progress is still needed in this regard. The recent Employment Equity Report revealed that at the top management level whites are at 72.6% and blacks at 12.3%.
The gender breakdown is 80.1% male and 19.8% female at top management. People with disability constitute 1.4% of the total workforce, which means we must move faster in order to achieve the target of 2% representation by 2015.
With regards to the ownership of the economy, the 2012 Johannesburg Stock Exchange indicated that direct black ownership of shares on the exchange is less than 5%.
Working together, without apportioning blame against one another, we need to fast-track transformation in order to achieve full emancipation for all.
Fortunately we have enough legal instruments to assist the social partners to take this process forward.
In the State of the Nation Address I announced the intention of government to reopen restitution claims for those who lost their land since June 1913 but had missed the deadline of 31 December 1998. A draft Bill to that effect will be tabled in Cabinet soon.
Compatriots and friends,
We have come a long way since 1994. We have faced many hurdles along the way, but we remain on course. At this point, I would like to thank all South Africans for the unity displayed during difficult situations.
We stood together during the financial crisis of 2007-2008, when about a million of our people lost jobs. Government, business, labour and the community sector came together and worked on mechanisms to cushion the economy against further economic turmoil.
We are working together again to shield the economy during the current economic crisis caused by the meltdown in our key markets in Europe and the United States.
Most importantly, we stood together in shock and pain during the horrific killing of more than 40 compatriots in Marikana, near Rustenburg.
Many thought the Marikana tragedy marked the end of the road for a peaceful and democratic South Africa, but working together, we rose above the tragedy and put our country first. We await the conclusion of the Farlam Commission of Inquiry into this painful matter.
Let me also thank all South Africans for the support provided to the families of our 13 soldiers who fell tragically in Bangui in the Central African Republic and the five soldiers who died in a helicopter crash near Kruger National Park last month, on a mission to save our rhinos from ruthless poachers.
We also continue to work together to promote youth development. Only last week, the NEDLAC partners - government, business, labour and the community sector signed the National Youth Accord, committing themselves to promoting youth employment and skills development. The Minister of Finance announced a youth incentive scheme in the Budget Vote in February which complements this Accord. The proposal will soon serve in Cabinet and later in parliament.
Compatriots,
On this important day, we also celebrate the role the country plays internationally. We are playing our part in reconfiguring global economic arrangements, through participation in the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank, the G20, the Financial Stability Forum, the World Trade Organisation and more recently in partnership with the BRICS countries.
The participation in cementing peace and stability in Africa also continues, as is our passionate involvement in promoting the African agenda of renewal and sustainable development and positioning Africa positively in world affairs.
Fellow South Africans and friends,
Our freedom was not free. It came at a huge price. On this day, let us pause to think of all our compatriots and foreign nationals who paid the supreme price for our freedom and lost their lives.
In their memory, we congratulate all South Africans for choosing the path of peace in 1994. As we mark 100 years since Charlotte Maxeke launched the women’s struggle for freedom, we salute all women for their contribution to a free South Africa.
Let us renew our commitment to rid our society of violence and the abuse of women and children, in the home and everywhere else. On this 50th anniversary year of the Rivonia Trial we salute Madiba and all our leaders, the Rivonia trialists, and pledge to continue learning from their resilience, strength, wisdom and their boundless love for this country and its people.
On this important day we also salute members of the Anti-Apartheid Movement abroad who never gave up fighting until we were free. We also thank our brothers and sisters in the African continent for solidarity under difficult conditions.
Later today we will celebrate our freedom further through bestowing National Orders to some outstanding men and women from our country and abroad, who have contributed to the success of our country in various ways.
Let me also thank the other two arms of the State, the Legislature and the Judiciary, with whom we work as the Executive to take forward the mission of building a united, democratic, non-racial, non-sexist and prosperous South Africa.
Indeed, we have come far since 1994. Where we have made mistakes, we must learn from them as we continue building our beloved South Africa together.
As we head towards 20 years of freedom next year, let us deepen unity amongst all the South African people. We must build South Africa together, as directed by our founding President, Madiba, when he said:
“We enter into a covenant that we shall build a society where all South Africans, both Black and White, will be able to walk tall, without any fear in their hearts, assured of their right to human dignity; a rainbow nation at peace with itself and the world’’.
Compatriots and friends of the Republic around the world,
Happy Freedom Day to you all!
I thank you.
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Buying power and lack of regular exercise the reasons for the country’s high rate of non-communicable diseases Dietician warns DENOSA wellness workshop
Sibongiseni Delihlazo, Communications Manager, DENOSA, 29 April 2013
The buying power and lack of regular exercises by many professionals are the two main reasons why South Africa is among the countries with the high burden of non-communicable diseases (NCD), which threatens the potential of the countrys socio-economic growth, a senior dietician warned a wellness workshop organised by Democratic Nursing Organisation of South Africa (DENOSA) in North West.
With South Africa’s socio-economic status improving gradually, this brings with it new health problems whose results can be witnessed at the country’s various outpatient departments. Most people at many hospitals outpatient departments are there to collect medication for non-communicable diseases.
Serati Seema, a senior dietician at Mafikeng Provincial Hospital in North West, said because of their busy work schedule, professionals find it easy to buy food with high sugar and fat concentrates from the many food retails as a quick fix, and feed this to their children too.
And even when they do that, they choose the food that tastes great than the rest, forgetting that the tastier the food the more unhealthy it often becomes due to high fat and sugar concentration, said Serati. He said the physical exercise that kids used to embark on while playing has since been replaced by TV games which children play while sitting down and eating.
As part of promoting a healthy lifestyle, DENOSA is involved in a wellness programme in the North West province which targets both health professionals as a pilot at the Mafikeng Provincial Hospital and members of the Barolong community, which began last year. The project runs regular aerobic sessions every Wednesday at the hospital, while members of the community embark on gardening and sport activities like netball and soccer. The project is funded by research-based pharmaceutical company PFIZER.
Manager of the project at DENOSA, Brian Dhliwayo, said the decision to choose the two groups was because of the high rate of drug abuse among youth in the community. The issue of professionals gaining weight is a country-wide problem, which is worse for the country as we are currently faced with an acute shortage of nurses. But combining these activities in the same area will go to show just how effective promoting healthy lifestyle really is across the board, because both worlds are in trouble in terms of not living a healthy lifestyle, he said.
While this type of project may be the solution to the countrys NCD problem, the shortage of funding is what will render this project ineffective if it is not applied on a large scale, which the country needs. It calls for all key stakeholders of the economy, namely: public, private and civic society.
With South Africa being one of highest cases of NCDs, DENOSAs main concern is that this threatens the economic growth and competitiveness of the country, as many professionals quickly become hypertensive as a result of indulging in unhealthy food, and then develop stroke which often leads to their death.
On Friday, participants of the programme together with members of the community took part in the health screening exercise as a means to check their progress by testing for blood pressure, diabetes, and checking their weight.
The project runs up until June this year, and the preliminary results of the project will be presented at the International Council of Nurses (ICN) congress in Melbourne, Australia which starts from the 18th to the 23rd of May, where two nurses who are running the project at the site will be sharing the lessons of the project with their colleagues from around the world, as this one of the few projects that are aimed at fighting non-communicable diseases.
Issued by Democratic Nursing Organisation of South Africa (DENOSA)
International
Quality public services for all on International Workers’ Day-01 May 2013
Teresa Marshall, PSI Communications Coordinator, 29 April 2013
Your future is in public hands - quality public services for all!
The international labour movement celebrates 1 May in memory of the activists who were killed in the Haymarket massacre of 1886 while demonstrating for the eight-hour work day. Today, using the pretext of the economic and financial crises, neo-liberal forces around the world are determined to eliminate workers’ right to bargain collectively and hard-won social and labour rights.
Workers and our communities are uniting to turn back the wave of measures being used to increase privatisation, claw back public spending, reduce the size and role of the state, and to attack social dialogue and collective bargaining in public sector workplaces.
Public Services International General Secretary Rosa Pavanelli says: “We cannot accept a future which offers decent jobs for only the lucky few and precarious jobs for everybody else – where the exploitation of women, young workers and children is the norm and millions of undocumented migrant workers labour under unacceptable conditions.
“We have a responsibility to future generations to protect trade union and social rights. We must join in collective action to ensure that in the future quality public services will be available to young and old, generating social justice and equality for all.”
Women and young workers are bearing the brunt of budget cuts and austerity measures. The long struggle for women’s equality has been set back by cuts to public services and institutions that promote equality for women at work and in society. Young workers are not provided with appropriate training and are excluded from the labour market.
Public investment in public services, infrastructure and industrial policy boosts sustainable development, stable growth and good and decent jobs. However, funding for the public sector is being reduced at an alarming speed. Taking effective action against tax fraud and putting in place progressive tax systems would provide the funds to build strong public services.
In many parts of the world, trade union rights for public service workers continue to be violated by outright bans, restrictions, the misapplication of “essential services” and violence and intimidation. These attacks on trade union rights are an assault on democracy and social development.
At the International Labour Conference in June 2012, the employers’ group blocked the work of the Committee on the Application of Standards—claiming that the experts do not have the authority to interpret conventions - and refused to discuss any cases linked to the right to strike, which emanates from ILO Convention 87. This strategy by employers aims to destroy the ILO supervisory system. Negotiations continue into 2013 to resolve this deadlock.
Pavanelli says: “The International Labour Organization was created in 1919, as part of the Treaty of Versailles that ended World War I, to reflect the belief that universal and lasting peace can be accomplished only if it is based on social justice. Let this belief guide us today. PSI calls on our affiliate union members to engage with their governments and social partners in the lead-up to the ILO conference in June 2013.
“PSI continues to fight for freedom of association in Algeria, Guatemala, Korea, Turkey and any other country where there is injustice. Now, more than ever, we must stand united and strong to protect workers’ rights.”
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EI engages in high-level dialogue on quality education
Education International, 29 April 2013
EI President Susan Hopgood, General Secretary Fred van Leeuwen, Deputy General Secretary David Edwards and Executive Board member Marième Sakho Dansokho have participated in a series of high-level meetings in Washington DC, USA, at World Bank-International Monetary Fund (IMF) Spring Meetings, on the Global Education First Initiative (GEFI). They have ensured that the voice of teachers is heard at these events and advocated for quality education.
EI Mobilising for Quality Education Initiative presented at high-level meeting
On 18 April, EI President took part in the Second meeting of the High-Level Steering Committee of the United Nations (UN) Secretary-General’s Global Education First Initiative, where she announced the EI Mobilising for Quality Education (MQE) Initiative.
Hopgood also invited UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and partners to the launch of this campaign in New York, USA, in October, to coincide with EI’s commemoration of World Teachers’ Day, at the end of the UN General Assembly.
“Through the MQE Initiative, EI will advocate for universal, free and quality education to be a central part of any global post-2015 development strategy,” she said. “In that regard, beginning next month, EI will be organising regional workshops around the world for its members to review Education for All (EFA)/Millennium Development Goals progress, challenges and lessons learnt and carry out EFA assessments at country level. Arising from these assessments, EI will come up with its own teachers’ EFA Report Card.”
EI also participated in a Learning for All Ministerial on 18 April which brought together Ministers of Finance and Education - from eight countries that are home to about one-half of the world’s out-of-school children - with leaders from development partner organisations and civil society to discuss specific challenges and concrete steps to accelerate progress toward ensuring that all children can go to school and learn. The event focused on eight countries: Bangladesh, Democratic Republic of Congo, Ethiopia, Haiti, India, Nigeria, Yemen, and South Sudan.
Ministerial meetings were co-hosted by the President of the World Bank Group with the UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and the UN Special Envoy for Global Education Gordon Brown. Other participants also included the heads of the four Education For All co-founding agencies (UNESCO, UNICEF, UNDP and the World Bank), the Global Partnership for Education (GPE), bilateral and multilateral donor agencies, global civil society and the private sector.
Trained teachers ensure quality education where it matters most
On 19 April, EI General Secretary Van Leeuwen further took part in a civil society panel on closing the teacher gap, which coincides with the theme of the Global Action Week (GAW) (21-27 April) – “Every Child needs a Teacher”.
“The international community must work with educators to find real and lasting solutions,” he said. “This year’s Global Action Week has a direct link with our Mobilising for Quality Education Initiative. As Gordon Brown noted, quality education can only be achieved by making sure children get access to adequately qualified teachers with adequate conditions.”
He added: “We need a new deal for teachers, which actually recognises that the old deal is a bad deal and that we have a problem. In fact we have to hire more than six million primary teachers, including replacement and new hires. That represents ten per cent of the world’s entire teaching profession if we count early childhood education to higher education, and twenty per cent of EI membership. If you are a rural, indigenous girl in a country torn by conflict, the odds that you have a highly trained, qualified teacher and good learning conditions are pretty poor.”
He also reminded that the past year, EI and GCE released a report about closing the trained teacher gap which takes a hard look at the proliferation of contract teachers within the broader context of the reforms that have attempted to maximise teacher output and lowering recurrent expenditures, and thinking about professionalisation as a word that describes a process where the collective power of teachers organisations is managed through a series of ‘deals’, rather than recognising the organisations themselves as voicing pedagogical issues.
“A new deal must be negotiated with us and not sold to us, we take responsibility for what we can control but our professional rights, our safety and our voice must be respected,” van Leeuwen strongly emphasised.
Global Unions demand respect for human and trade union rights
EI further joined in the Statement by Global Unions to the 2013 Spring Meetings of the IMF and World Bank.
This statement asks the IMF to “end support for harmful labour market ‘reforms.’ IMF recommendations or conditions in this area have included reducing or freezing minimum wages, relaxing dismissal procedures and reducing severance pay. They have also included the weakening or dismantling national and sector-level collective bargaining arrangements, at times in contravention of internationally-recognised labour standards.”
If the Bank is to effectively address inequality and make good on its commitment to reduce poverty, it will need renewed efforts and focus on employment creation and social protection. The Bank should work to implement the proposal of the World Development Report 2013: Jobs, to re-examine all development strategies through a ‘jobs lens’.
The EI delegation also had the opportunity to meet with Homi Kharas, the lead Author and Executive Secretary of the UN Secretary-General’s High-level Panel on the global development agenda beyond 2015. It presented EI’s targets, goals and indicators for education in the post-2015 global development framework, based on its ten principles.
The education leaders also had a meeting with Alice Albright, Chief Executive Officer for the GPE, and USAID representatives, among others.
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Rubber unions strengthen global networks
Anita Gardner, IndustriALL Global Union Director of Communications, 27 April 2013
Meeting in Hungarian capital Budapest on 22-24 April 2013, the IndustriALL Global Union World Conference for the Rubber Industry’s more than one hundred participants from some twenty countries committed to reinforce trade union workers at the dominant multinational companies of the sector.
“With this Conference, let us show that we are able to create concrete programs for workers’ solidarity against the negative effects of globalization in our sector,” were the opening remarks of Tamas Szekely, President of the Hungarian Chemical and Energy Workers’ Federation (VDSz) that hosted the Conference. The participants conducted discussions through company break-out meetings covering Bridgestone, Goodyear, Michelin, Continental and Pirelli to discuss particular situations in their respective countries.
The Conference overwhelmingly discussed challenges and union actions in the global rubber industry with a perspective over the future of auto and auto supplier sectors with tire and non-tire segments. The delegates explained developments in individual countries after the major crisis of 2008-2009. It was reported that even though crisis conditions have now passed, workers continue to suffer deteriorated working conditions. The European and North American representatives reported ongoing cases challenging unions and workers.
The reports from the break-out meetings formed a genuine base for union networks in the rubber industry. The participants appreciated a continuing of the global network activities with Japanese-based Bridgestone. The Secretary of European Works Council of French-based Michelin briefed participants about the efforts towards the creation of Michelin’s global network with a positive development that the company management already announced its readiness for a global framework agreement. Having concerns about the future of the company, participants coming from US-based Goodyear expressed their views of the importance of reinforcing union networking, as did the participants from Italian-based Pirelli. The delegates also shared experiences over the difficult situation at German-based Continental’s operations. The Conference underlined the importance of working with non-tire multinationals such as Hutchinson, Trelleborg, and Freudenberg.
Union organizing and the fight against precarious employment were also major agenda items discussed. More joint work with the Auto Section has been defined as a priority in union campaigns in the rubber industry within the supply chain strategy of IndustriALL Global Union. Even though precarious employment is not identified among the major problems in the tire industry in developed countries, it has been defined as a burning problem in developing countries, particularly in Asia. Examples from union recruitment and achievements through collective bargaining processes were exchanged with interest. The participants also debated health and safety conditions in the sector, and attached great attention to sustainability in the sector.
The Conference unanimously adopted a plan of action over the points raised. (For the action plan, please click here).
The delegates re-elected Stan Johnson, International Secretary-Treasurer of USW, as Chairperson of IndustriALL Global Union’s Rubber Section while Linda McCulloch, National Secretary of Unite the Union has been elected as Vice-Chairperson. “This successful Conference has given us a clear road map for our future activities in building up genuine union power in the rubber industry” said Johnson at his final speech.
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Call for the release of trade unionist Wonder Mkhonza charged with sedition in Swaziland
Fabian Nkomo,IndustriALL Africa Regional Secretary 27 April 2013
IndustriALL Global Union condemns the arrest of Comrade Wonder Mkhonza, Deputy General Secretary of the Swaziland Processing, Refining and Allied Workers Union. Mkhonza is also the National Organizing Secretary of the banned leading liberation movement-PUDEMO.
Mkhonza was arrested on 12 April during mass activities to protest the
40 year old state of emergency that bans political parties and that recently banned the only trade union centre in the country, the Trade Union Congress of Swaziland-TUCOSWA.
Mkhonza is the chairperson of the coordinating council of the manufacturing unions which are working towards a merger in Swaziland, a process fully supported by IndustriALL.
Mkhonza is appearing at the high court on Wednesday 24 April. He has been denied visitation and has up to now not been allowed access to a lawyer. Our immediate concern is for Mkhonza's safety and we are reminded of fellow Swazi trade unionist Sipho Jele who died under suspicious circumstances whilst in police custody in 2010.
IndustriALL has launched an international campaign<http://www.change.org/petitions/free-wonder-mkhonza> to demand the immediate release of Wonder Mkhonza and that charges against him, which include sedition, be immediately dropped. You can support the campaign here:
http://www.change.org/petitions/free-wonder-mkhonza
Actions by the Swazi government continue to be in contravention of ILO conventions and the African People's Charter and the UN Human rights charters. We demand that the Swazi government stop the harassment of trade unionists. We also demand that the Swaziland government uphold internationally recognized right to freedom of association and recognize the legitimacy of the recently formed trade union federation in the country TUCOSWA
We further call upon the Swazi government to recognize the right to freedom of assembly and allow for citizens to engage in peaceful protest.
We also call on all African governments to put pressure of the Swazi government end the 40 year state of emergency and embrace democracy.
African trade union leaders received a report on the harassment of trade union leaders at a meeting of IndustriALL Global Union being held in Midrand, South Africa on 23 April. IndustriALL represents 50 million members in 140 countries. We represent workers globally across supply chains in the energy, mining, manufacturing and related sectors, including members of our Swazi affiliated unions.
For further information contact please contact IndustriALL Africa Regional Secretary Fabian Nkomo +27 (0)725157415.
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Bangladesh: Clothing Brands Attacked for Callous Indifference
Zuzanna Muskat-Gorska, International Trade Union Confederation , 27 April 2013
The ITUC has reacted angrily to the continued refusal of global clothing brands to join a union-supported workplace safety plan in Bangladesh. The proposal was developed by unions and workers' rights NGOs and presented to companies including Wal-Mart, GAP and H&M in 2011.
A renewed push after the Tazreen factory fire killed 122 workers last November still produced no agreement from companies, which complained that it would cost too much and would be legally binding.
Sharan Burrow, ITUC General Secretary, said "These huge global companies continue to show callous indifference to the lives of the thousands of workers who toil for their Bangladesh contractors and subcontractors. There have been dozens more factory fires in the months since the Tazreen tragedy, and now hundreds killed in this week's Rana Plaza building collapse. How many people will have to sacrifice their lives for the corporate bottom line before the big players in the industry finally show that they care?"
Clothing multinationals have long preferred to rely on discredited company-financed factory "audits", which are often little more than public relations exercises. A "Responsibility Outsourced" report released by the US trade union centre AFL-CIO on 23 April revealed the abject failure of key social audit programmes to protect workers lives and ensure basic standards such as health and safety protection and the right to join unions. In one of the worst examples, the Ali Enterprises factory in Pakistan was certified by one of the major corporate social responsibility groups, Social Accountability International, just weeks before a fire there killed some 300 workers in 2012.
"The Bangladesh government must face up to its responsibilities to protect people from exploitation, ensure safe workplaces and support workers who want to join unions. But the commercial pressures from multinationals who continually seek to drive down costs, cut corners and speed up production times are also responsible. Workers did not want to enter the Rana Plaza building this week, but without a union, the company bosses were able to force them to enter a death-trap," said Burrow.
Amirul Haque Amin, President of the National Garment Workers Federation in Bangladesh, said "This negligence must stop. The deaths of these workers could have been avoided if multinational corporations, governments and factory owners took workers' protection seriously."
The latest figures on the Rana Plaza disaster available to the ITUC on 26 April show:
304 confirmed deaths
2044 people rescued, more than 1000 of them injured
1000 people unaccounted for or still trapped inside the concrete wreckage.
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New Zealand Public Service Association celebrates 100th anniversary
Teresa Marshall, PSI Communications Coordinator, 29 April 2013
This year the PSA celebrates its centenary. It’s a huge milestone for the union and a year-long programme of events has been organised across New Zealand.
The union has commissioned a centenary banner and published two books: an oral history of the PSA from 1984 to 2012, and a biography of one of the union’s most influential leaders, Dan Long, who was president (1958-60) and general secretary (1961-76).
PSA has been a member of PSI since 1970, but its history dates back to 1913, when the Public Service Association (PSA) was formed from the remnants of a body known as the Civil Service Association. It was open to ‘all persons in the employment of the New Zealand Government” with personal service to membership, the commitment.
A special interactive centenary website documents the people and events that shaped the union’s history. It has video and audio clips as well as online access to 100 years of the PSA Journal.
The New Zealand Film Archive is also compiling a presentation documenting the union’s history through film and TV clips.
In September, the PSA will be part of a conference on the public sector, organised with with Victoria University. Several events are planned all over the country.
For the PSA’s current focus see www.psa.org.nz
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President Jacob Zuma congratulates Italian Prime Minister
The Department of International Relations and Cooperation, 29 April 2013
On behalf of the Government and the People of the Republic of South Africa, His Excellency President Jacob Zuma has congratulated the new Prime Minister of Italy, Mr Enrico Letta, following the formation of a new coalition government on 28 April 2013.
Prime Minister Letta succeeds Prime Minister Mario Monti, who under his leadership, Italy has carried out difficult but necessary reforms.
President Zuma wished Prime Minister Letta well in his new position, and reconfirmed his appreciation of the warm and close relations and to further strengthen the special relationship that exist between South Africa and Italy and their people.
To promote a balanced international order respectful of human rights, strengthen the intercultural dialogue and support sustainable, fair development are goals we share. In these challenging times for the international community, it is more necessary than ever for South Africa and Italy to combine their efforts to achieve them.
The South African government is looking forward to working with the new government in consolidating and strengthening political and economic relations that exist between the two countries.
Letta took the oath of office at a ceremony attended by President Giorgio Napolitano who was himself recently inaugurated to a second term, and a cadre of 21 Cabinet Ministers on Sunday, 28 April 2013.
President Zuma looks forward to working closely with Prime Minister Letta and President Napolitano as our two countries jointly seek to promote trade; employment creation and continuing our cooperation on issues of international importance such as Africa and its development, and to tackle the global challenges.
President Zuma wishes Prime Minister Letta every success in his new role.
Issued by the Department of International Relations and Cooperation
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Richard Elliott, UNI global union, Director of Communications, 29 April 2013 |
UNI affiliate ver.di has won a 5.7% pay rise in a new collective agreement with the German post after a series of strikes during bargaining | |
Ver.di members in Deutsche Post will receive a 5.7% pay rise over the next two years after their union concluded bargaining with the German post office last week. Ver.di announced the terms of their new agreement with Deutsche Post on Friday after calling for rolling strikes during the three-week negotiating period. Thousands of postal workers walked off the job in support of their bargaining team as the union called for a fair agreement with Deutsche Post, recognising their members contributions to the continued success of Deutsche Post. | |
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Richard Elliott, UNI global union, Director of Communications, 29 April 2013 |
UNI and its affiliates pay tribute to the workers killed in the factory building collapse in Dhaka and call for new regulations and the supply chain to be cleaned up | |
On Sunday, 28th April it is International Workers' Memorial Day which was meant tocommemorats all the men and women who have died from work-related deaths, injuries and occupational related illness. UNI Global Union General Secretary Philip Jennings said, “It is tragic and unacceptable that the number of victims we are remembering today has been greatly added to by the hundreds who have lost their lives in the Dhaka building collapse earlier this week. The building, by all accounts a death trap, was used by garment workers producing clothes for Western brands. Walmart is investigating whether its suppliers were operating in the building. It’s indicative of Walmart’s irresponsible attitude that they do not know one way or the other and shows how small a value they put on the lives of the workers producing their goods in Asia.” Jennings continued, “Bangladesh’s press has called what happened at the factory “mass-murder by the rich” and they are not wrong. The people are protesting in the street and they have the right to be angry. These factories are not properly regulated. Health and safety is non-existent while the factory owners demand every last ounce of flesh from their workers to maximise profits. But the real winners are the multinationals like Walmart who are able to sell their goods to consumers at rock bottom prices. Someone has to pay the price though. Who’s next after the dead workers of Dhaka this week, and those killed in garment factory fire also in Bangladesh only five months ago? Those directly responsible for the Dhaka tragedy must be punished. The multinationals involved also have the moral responsibility to make sure their suppliers are providing a safe working environment for their employees and paying them a living wage. These companies are failing on both accounts and yet they have the financial clout to ensure building safety and a decent wage, without hardly touching their bottom line. What is needed is more regulation to force these giant Western companies as well as the suppliers to fall in line and protect workers' rights. It is time to clean up the supply chain. ” Bangladesh has one of the biggest garment industries in the world, providing cheap clothing for multinational Western retailers who benefit from its low cost labour force. The industry has been widely criticised for its rock bottom wages, lack of workers rights and dangerous working conditions. There are reports that extra floors are routinely added to buildings illegally to increase capacity. The workers in the factories are mainly women who are contracted to work eight hours a day but forced to work 18 hours a day, even on their day off, to complete orders for Western companies like Walmart. | |
Comment
Bangladesh Disaster - Who pays the real price of your shirt or blouse?
David Bacon, The Progressive, 27 April 2013
Seven hundred workers have died in factory fires in Bangladesh since 2005, the most recent being the 112 who burned or jumped to their deaths at the Tazreen factory on November 24th. Now hundreds more bodies are being pulled from the rubble of the Rana Plaza building, in an industrial district 18 miles from Dhaka.
At Tazreen the owners didn't build fire escapes. They'd locked the doors on the upper floors "to prevent theft," trapping workers in the flames. At Rana Plaza, factory owners refused to evacuate the building after huge cracks appeared in the walls, even after safety engineers told them not to let workers inside.
Workers told IndustriALL union federation representatives they'd be docked three days pay for each day of an absence, and so went inside despite their worries. As a result, the death toll is already over 250 and more are still trapped under debris.
Perhaps the building codes at Rana Plaza were not enforced, and permits never even obtained, because Sohel Rana, the building's owner, is reportedly active in Bangladesh's ruling party, the Awami League. At Tazreen the company was cited by fire inspectors, but never forced to install safety equipment.
But Bangladesh's development policy is based on attracting garment production by keeping costs among the world's lowest. Safe buildings that don't collapse or trap workers in fires raise those costs. So do wages that might rise above Bangladesh's 21¢/hour -- not a livable wage there or anywhere else.
The beneficiaries of those costs are the big brands whose clothes are sewn by the women in those factories. They give production contracts to the factories that make the lowest bids. Factories then compete to cut costs any way they can.
Tazreen made clothes for Wal-Mart, among other big brands. The Rana Plaza building held several factories where 2500 women churned out garments. According to the International Labor Rights Forum, "one of the factories in the Rana complex, Ether-Tex, had listed Walmart-Canada as a buyer on their website." Labor activists found other documents in the rubble listing cutting orders from Benetton and other labels.
Workers have been trying for years to organize militant unions to raise wages and enforce safety codes. If they'd been successful, they would have had the power to make the factories safe. The morning after the Rana collapse, 20,000 poured out of neighboring factories in protest - other factory owners had ordered them to keep working as though nothing had happened.
Meanwhile, the giant companies controlling the industry insulate themselves from responsibility for the conditions they create. And their most important accomplice is the corporate social responsibility industry.
According to a report just released by the AFL-CIO, Responsibility Outsourced, just before a fire at the Ali Enterprises factory in Pakistan killed 262 workers in 2012, clothing manufacturers hired an auditing firm, Social Accountability International, to certify it was safe. SAI then subcontracted inspection to an Italian firm, RINA, which subcontracted it yet again to a local firm RI&CA. Ali Enterprises was certified that August. "Nearly 300 workers died in a fire two weeks after," the report charges.
Certifying factories that kill workers has become an $80 billion industry that "helped keep wages low and working conditions poor, [while] it provided public relations cover for producers," Responsibility Outsourced says. "Manufacturing work has left countries in which there were laws, collective bargaining and other systems in place to reduce workplace dangers," it says, while "jobs instead have gone to countries with inadequate laws, weak enforcement and precarious employment relationships."
This transfer was enabled by corporate-friendly trade agreements guaranteeing the products of these factories unfettered access to U.S. and European markets. They simultaneously put pressure on developing countries to guarantee the rights of foreign corporate investors and an environment of low wages, lax enforcement of worker protections, and attacks on unions.
In Bangladesh, after the Tazreen fire, a binding agreement was developed by IndustriALL, the ILRC and other labor NGOs, that seeks to prevent fires and increase safety by guaranteeing workers' right to organize and enforce better conditions. Some companies, including PVH and Tchibo have signed on. Wal-Mart and Sears, however, not only refused, but would not even pay compensation to the Tazreen fire victims.
As Bangladesh workers pull the bodies of their friends from ruin of Rana Plaza, people half a world away wearing the clothes they sew should not turn their faces away. They need real knowledge about how their shirts and blouses are produced, and who produces them. Rather than the image manipulation of Social Accountability International and its competitor, the Fair Labor Association, they should demand the truth, and then use their power as consumers.
They should drive companies guilty of industrial homicide out of the world's markets.
Announcements
LRS Inflation Monitor March 2013 |
Dear Comrades The LRS Inflation Monitor March 2013 is OUT NOW! Attached please find your copy. What's new? - Workshop on Wage Data and Social Dialogue (Media Releases) - Trenton Elsley on SAFM AmLive discussion on the Proposed National Wage Policy 20130411 - Bargaining Agreements Catalogue - Latest News on Trade Union Shareholder Activism - Latest Company Report Kind regards, |
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RSVP on or before 26 April 2013 rs...@educationconversations.co.za
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The WWMP/COSATU Labour Film Festival-Is Coming To Your Town!
Contact your nearest COSATU local office for more information
LABOUR FILM FESTIVAL DATES AND VENUES 6 – 9pm except BOTSHABELO; WITBANK and KING WILLIAMSTOWN as indicated in black below.
24 April | Community House, 41 Salt River Road, | SALT RIVER
| 6 – 9pm |
25 April | AlexSano Kopano Community Centre | ALEXANDRA
| 6 – 9pm |
25 April | KCD Centre, E505 Scott Street | KHAYELITSHA
| 6 – 9pm |
25 – 26 April | Sedimosehang Centre | BOTSHABELO
| 3pm |
27 April | SAGC – SNA Building, Escombe Street | WITBANK
| 10am |
30 April | Holy Trinity Anglican Curch 109 Beyers Naude & O R Tambo Streets | Rustenburg | 6 – 9pm |
30 April | Multi-purpose Centre, Wilger Street | DE DOORNS
| 6 – 9pm |
8 May | NUMSA Board Room; 86 Oxford Street | EAST LONDON
| 6 – 9pm |
9 May | King Williamstown Town Hall | KING WILLIAMSTOWN
| 1 – 4pm |
10 May | O R Tambo Community Centre, Zwide | PORT ELIZABETH
| 6 – 9pm |
22 May | Durban City Hall, Church Street | DURBAN
| 6 – 9pm |
FALSE PROFITS –
Produced and directed by WWMP;
2009; 31mins
VENEZUELA BOLIVARIANA:
PEOPLE STRUGGLE OF THE
FOURTH WORLD WAR –
Marcelo Andrade Arreaza; 2004; 76mins
VICTIMS OF HOUSING
EVICTIONS SPEAK OUT –
WWMP; 2012; 4mins
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Media communications course for trade unionists and activists coming in 2013!
Martin Jansen, Director WWMP,29 April 2013
Workers world media productions will conduct various education and training courses in 2013, amongst others, on Basic Shopsteward Training, Intermediate Shopstewards Training and Media and Communications course for Trade Unionists and Activists.
The media and communications course will resume on the 16th-20th September 2013 at Johannesburg.
The course will cover the following aspects;
· Labour media and labour in the media
· Media power and the power of media
· Trade union principles and labour media
· Understanding the media landscape
· Media relations
· Formulating a media strategy
· Mind-mapping a story to give to the media
· Writing opinion pieces for publication
· Writing media releases, and
· Handling press and television interviews
The course will cover for a maximum of 20 participants, with a cost including materials, meals and refreshments.
Contact:
World Workers’ Media Productions to register
Cape Town Tel: 0214472727 fax 0214485076
Johannesburg Tel: 0114031877 fax 0114031032
Email: mol...@wwmp.org.za
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COSATU skinning in the game of social media-Enabling the trade union movement to nurture a communicative platform
The Congress of South Africa Trade Unions has broken new grounds by enabling its members and the society at large, to shape its progressive work.
Follow COSATU General Secretary, cde Zwelinzima Vavi @zwelinzima1 and also COSATU’s Official twitter handles @_cosatu and @cosatu2015, for a second to second update on issues affecting the working class in South Africa and elsewhere.
And the Federation has a Facebook Page ; http://www.facebook.com/pages/Congress-of-South-Africa-Trade-Unions-Cosatu-Today/390972744302076?fref=ts
Forward with building a strong and vibrant trade union movement through a communication platform.
An injury to one is an injury to all!
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Follow Fred van Leeuwen on Twitter!-EI GS
Education International
EI General Secretary Fred van Leeuwen is now on Twitter - follow @fredvanleeuwen for news, views, insights and highlights from the global education scene.
"Twitter is an amazing tool. Anyone can publish, and re-publish, information instantly, and thus distribute knowledge to thousands of people within minutes. Look at the revolutions in Arab countries that relied on Twitter for rapid communication; or the heated debates that spring up on Twitter during large events like the State of the Union address in the United States - these events show the immense potential the service has," he said.
"I am happy to be able to contribute, and look forward to sharing and discussing with colleagues and friends via Twitter."
To follow Fred van Leeuwen on Twitter, click here to go to@fredvanleeuwen, his Twitter profile. It is also possible to follow@eduint, Education International's offical Twitter account.
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Follow ITUC Secretary General-Sharan Burrow
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Norman Mampane (Communications Officer)
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 or Direct 010 219-1342
Mobile: +27 72 416 3790
E-Mail: mam...@cosatu.org.za
