8.Satawu rubbishes
Cele's claims
SATAWU has condemned the statement by the MEC for Transport
in Kwa Zulu Natal, Bheki Cele, who insinuated that the striking
security workers who are members of SATAWU may have been responsible
for the recent torching of 59 buses belonging to Ramont Alton.
In an interview on SAFM, Cele said his department was yet to
be advised whether the SATAWU strikers were to blame for the
arson.
"We find this unprovoked attack on SATAWU by the MEC highly
contentious and very dangerous," says SATAWU, "By his
own admission, there was still an investigation underway. Now,
the question is why bring the name of an organization into the
equation especially when the interviewer had not mentioned any
names in his question? It again shows how the state and its agencies
continue to stoke the fires in this particular action for the
purpose of swinging public opinion against SATAWU.
"We believe this is irresponsible. It suggests that a hypothesis
that implicates SATAWU has already been formulated. It is our
view that such provocation has a potential to escalate ill feelings
and negative portrayal of the action and the union itself. We
therefore ask the MEC to withdraw that statement and apologise
to SATAWU and its members as well as to the security workers
themselves."
9.Concern at laundry
workers murder decision
COSATU Gauteng has expressed its deep concern at the decision
to drop all the charges against those accused of the murder of
three laundry workers in Vereeniging. They called upon the SAPS
to reinvestigate the case thoroughly, arrest the real culprits
and bring them to trial.
"If they are proved guilty they should then be given harsh
sentences that reflect the brutality of the crime. Only then
will the families of the victims be able to come to terms with
the tragedy of losing their loved ones and achieve closure of
the matter.
COSATU also calls for the transformation of the judiciary, to
ensure that the majority of all legal officials are representative
of the majority of the people."
10.Limpopo meets to
discuss HIV/Aids pandemic
On 25 April, COSATU, Treatment Action Campaign and the SA Council
of Churches in Limpopo held a one day conference on HIV and AIDS
to discuss the province's response to the pandemic. COSATU is
of the view that there is a need to build stronger partnership
with the civil society organisations and government to fight
the pandemic as it has become necessary that all sectors must
have shared responsibility in this struggle against HIV and AIDS.
"Whilst we acknowledge the good strategies that have been
put into place by government in this regard," Says COSATU
Limpopo, "we are of the view that not enough have been done
to mobilise communities to take advantage of the government programme.
Recently it has been widely reported that the number of infections
have increased especially amongst the youth."
11."Soft Skills" training
a real let down, says Numsa
NUMSA says it is extremely perturbed by the continued provision
of 'soft skills', including HIV/Aids, health and safety skills
training by major metal, motor and engineering companies.
This takes place in the face of skills crisis gripping the country,
with the labour resource survey predicting a possible increase
in semi-skilled labour requirement by 20% a year. The demand
for skilled artisans, meanwhile is approaching almost 25 000.
Most manufacturing companies, meanwhile choose to offer inconsequential "soft
skills" in place of urgently required skills development
while the critical skills pool cannot meet the industry growth
needs.
And, in an angry response, the union shop stewards have withdrawn
from participating in skills development committees in most affected
companies.
The impact of this reality, says NUMSA training sector coordinator
Malebo Mogopodi, is that several companies allow employees to
undergo soft skills training just to be able recoup skills levy
contributions from the government fund
"This basically means that the predominantly blacks and
previously disadvantaged are never going to have access to further
training. And, this defeats the whole purpose of skills development
which is about affirming the previously disadvantaged and redressing
the imbalances of the past," Mogopodi said yesterday.
Some employers have been claiming that they could only not release
employees to go on training on condition that the production
line is not disrupted. It would appear companies are allowed
in the process to look down upon learnerships programs since
they (employers) peddled lies claiming that the deterioration
of the apprenticeship system is the major reason for the skills
shortages.
"We are also worried that the focus on training is shifting
towards unemployed youths at the expense of the employed," she
said.
NUMSA supports the proposed skills gap turnaround through the
Joint initiative for priority skills acquisition that ensured
a pool of people who would be in a position to replace permanent
employees should be considered for re-training when they go for
training.
Other options should include retraining of retrenched workers
and unemployed graduates, through sectoral education and training
authority funding in order to help learners earn allowances before
they were considered for full time employment.
NUMSA is vigorously engaging industry associations to ensure
skills training offered were influenced by equity considerations
and the pace of technological change, since employers often complained
that employment equity targets set by companies were difficult
to achieve due to skills shortages and lack of experienced candidates.
12.Fawu condemns exploitation
of workers at Tiger Milling
About 600 FAWU members and supporters from the Alliance will
participate in a march at 10h00 on 4 May 2006 in Randfontein
to protest against Tiger Milling's exploitation of its workforce.
Members at the company complain that it is victimising shop
stewards and turning workers against each other. The company
has even gone as far as suspending two shop stewards and three
of our members. The union believes that is union bashing and
prohibits the right to freedom of association. This also leads
to workers living in fear of being victimised. Workers have raised
a wide range of complaints against the company, which includes
allegations of corruption, nepotism and racial discrimination.
The union views the escalating trends of casualisation at the
company as inhumane and a form of exploitation of workers. "Our
members are fed up with management's abuse of power and aims
to highlight the plight of these workers. We want to expose Tiger
Milling for the capitalistic slave driver it is!"
Marchers will gather at Randfontein Town Hall in Polokwane Street,
from where they will proceed to the Department of Labour and
then eventually to the company where they will hand over a memorandum
to management. Tiger Milling is a division of Tiger Brands.
13.Urban Swaziland
political parties - no more public relations games
The Swaziland Solidarity Network has noted several reports,
such as those in the Sowetan and the Mail and Guardian newspapers
have reported that the king has announced the new constitution
as unbanning political parties.
They say it is important to clarify the following facts:
The new constitution is still based on the Tinkhundla model
of political governance, which requires that people are not organized
to express their opinions, but must submit to the notion of "hereditary
representation" as presumed by the royalty through its prefects
hip system of chiefs
The new constitution is an upgraded model of the 1973 decree,
except that it does not explicitly states that political parties
are banned as the 1973 decree did, but it still does not legalise
them and all political rallies are being violently dispersed
by the state, because they are not legal and cannot be granted
permission to hold meetings
Immediately after its announcement, PUDEMO called a political
rally in Manzini and the state showed its brutal might and dispersed
it through force, citing illegality of the rally
Since its promulgation, there have been more arrests within
a very short space of time, sending a clear message to the people
that the illusion of an open space for political activity does
not exist.
If political parties are now unbanned, then as said by PUDEMO,
Mswati must immediately call a National Constitutional Forum
to discuss the future of the country with the legitimate representatives
of the people of Swaziland, PUDEMO being key.
