COSATU backs workers in dispute 03-07-07 |
COSATU backs workers in dispute
The Congress of South African Trade Unions fully supports the many unions who are currently battling, and in some cases striking, for improvements in wages and working conditions and trade union rights. These workers are taking forward the struggle begun in the historic public service workers' strike.
The underlying cause of all these disputes is the massive inequalities in South African society. All these workers see their employers making huge profits and awarding themselves enormous increases in their salaries, dividends and bonuses, while they struggle to survive on poverty pay with rapidly rising prices of essential items of food and transport.
These disputes are the inevitable result of economic policies which have benefited capital far more than labour. The workers are demanding their share of the country's rising prosperity, of which they have seen nothing.
In particular we support the unions in the following companies and sectors:
The gold mines, where the Chamber of Mines has tabled a 6% pay increase in response to the unions' demands for 15%. Members of the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) told the union's recent central committee they were not prepared to take less than a 15% wage increase this year.
As the NUM say: "For many years the workers have made huge profits for these companies but these companies have not been forthcoming in wage packages". The gold price has risen 65% since the last wage negotiations two years ago. Yet, as the Solidarity union says: "The offer doesn't even match inflation."
Eskom, whose 20 000 employees are locked in a wage dispute. The NUM, the National Union of Metalworkers of SA (NUMSA) and Solidarity are threatening industrial action. Pay talks are set to resume on Thursday, around the unions' demand for a 10% pay rise and a Minimum Service Agreement, to stop the employer labelling all employees as essential service workers who can therefore not legally strike.
COSATU condemns Eskom's use of security and police to teargas innocent protesting NUM members at their Megawatt Park headquarters last week, its attempts to use legal moves to interdict the unions and its refusal to meet the unions, in a ploy to thwart any strike action.
COSATU will be supporting the unions when they march in Pretoria on Friday 6 July to deliver memorandums to the departments of Minerals and Energy and Public Enterprise.
Vodacom, where workers began a strike on Monday, 2 July, and more are expected to join today and Wednesday. COSATU shares the concern of the Communications Workers Union, that Vodacom is trying to "do away with the union" by arguing that it did not hold a membership of 30% of Vodacom employees, when in fact the union has reached the required threshold.
COSATU agrees with CWU that "the myopic Vodacom management, under the guidance of Vodafone deployees, think that they can write their own South African labour laws".
We urge all COSATU affioliates to join the picketing and demonstrations planned for the Vodacom offices in Midrand, Durban, Bloemfontein, Port Elizabeth and Cape Town.
Impala Platinum, the world's biggest platinum producer, which has tabled a 7% wage increase for workers in response to the NUM's revised demand for 13%.
"We have declared this dispute since Impala is not making substantive moves" said Eddie Majadibodu, NUM Negotiator at Impala. "We have received clear mandates from our members. We can unfortunately not sell their souls. Impala has made huge profits; it will be unreasonable for workers to take home peanuts".
Samancor Chrome, where negotiations have 'hit a wall' over the employer's 'final offer' of 7,6%, in response to the NUM's demand for a 15% wage increment. A dispute has been declared.
As the NUM's negotiator has said: "The CPIX is currently at 6,3% and we had hoped that Samancor would come to the party with something else. But it appears they seem to be taking lessons from the public service employer".
DRD Gold, where NUM, Solidarity and UASA are demanding that the winner of the 2003 'Worst Employer of the Year Award' agrees to centralised bargaining. At the moment unions negotiate separately for each of DRD's three operations.
Since 2001, DRD Gold has been pleading poverty and thus unable to offer its employees competitive market related wages, which has led to huge disparities among its employees in its three operations.
" We helped build the company at the expense of workers," says the NUM, "and they lied that they will return to centralised bargaining. Today, after a decade, they still tell the very old tale. They plead poverty and tell us of their uniqueness, dynamism and marginality as if they are special and others do not have those aspects qualities".
CEPPWAWU: The Chemical Energy Paper Printing Wood and Allied Workers Union is consulting its members to embark on industrial action in support of their demands after a deadlock in both the National Bargaining Council for the Chemical Industry and the Wood and Paper Bargaining Council.
The unions are demanding wage increases and better terms and conditions such as transport and shift allowances. The industries that will be affected are industrial chemicals, pharmaceuticals, petroleum, glass, fast moving consumer goods, tissue products, pulp and paper and saw milling.
Metal and engineering industry, where unions have announced their intention to embark on a strike. The Bargaining Council for the industry has failed to resolve a wage dispute and the unions - NUMSA and UASA - are expected to hand in a strike notice to employers shortly and to down tools from Monday 9 July.
Auto, tyre and rubber industry, where negotiations have not made any tangible progress, as the employers have refused to revise their offer of 6.4% coupled with a 0.8% as an improved factor. In spite of huge increases to company executives, and huge investments on plant facilities, says NUMSA, the workers who have made it possible for the industry to thrive and become an international player must eat crumbs. They have become world class in terms of skills and productivity, but live in Third World conditions.
NUMSA have nevertheless reduced its 15% wage demand to 12% and COSATU agrees this is reasonable in the circumstances and within the reach of all companies in this sector.
We welcome the outcome NUMSA's Special NEC, which resolved that if no progress is made this week in negotiations, the union will declare a formal dispute and advise employers of their intentions to embark on a legal strike action beginning on 16 July 2007.
Engineering sector, where the unions believe they could settle this week if employers were to revise their offer to 15% on wages, improved severance pay and shift allowances, amendment to Section 20 which deals with labour brokers, leave enhancement and backdating the signed agreement to 1 July 2007
Otherwise NUMSA says it will formally advise the employers of their intentions to embark on legal strike action commencing on 9 July, with marches in all regions embarking on that date to deliver memorandums to employer associations. This strike will involve about 120 000 paid up members of NUMSA and other unions with a total membership of about 60 000 members. They will have the backing of COSATU's 1.8 million.
Road Accident Fund: The SA Transport and Allied Workers Union (SATAWU) and the Road Accident Fund have reached a cul-de-sac in their attempts to break the deadlock in their 2007/2008 salary negotiations, when management insisted on their 6.3% increase and demanded that all other demands (deferred from 2005/2006) be removed from the table.
The CCMA commissioner has therefore issued a non-resolution certificate that gives members the right to go on strike.
COSATU pledges full support to SATAWU as it starts with general meetings and intensified picketing and the national strike that could take place within two weeks.