Cosatu protests against price increase 02-07-08

 

COSATU protests against price increases

1st July 2008 will go down as a terrible day for South African consumers. Electricity tariffs are rising today by at least 27.5% and at midnight petrol rises by 74 cents a litre, pushing it over R10 per litre for the first time.

These are additional reasons why the Congress of South African Trade Unions is determined to take to the streets in rolling mass action, starting on 9 July 2008, in protest at these assaults on our living standards.

These increases will have both a direct and devastating impact on the cost of living of South African citizens, but will also inevitably have a knock-on effect on the cost of transport and manufactured goods, all of which use electricity and fuel in their production and distribution.

These are only the latest of a continuous stream of increases in the cost of food, paraffin, gas, electricity and a lot more. And every time it is the poorest consumers who suffer worst, as they spend a higher proportion of their meagre incomes on basics like food, paraffin for heating and taxi fares, which are all rising faster than the overall rate of inflation.

As if all this was not enough, over the last two years, we have had to cope with ten increases in interest rates from the Reserve Bank, which are adding even more burdens on the thousands of workers who have had to borrow money. And more hikes are being threatened.

These price increases are not only ruining the lives of millions of poor families but also putting our economic future in jeopardy. They are slamming the brakes on economic growth and job creation. There is a growing danger that employers, faced with rising costs, will try to balance their books by retrenching workers. Some may have to close down altogether.

All these price increases will certainly sabotage any chance of achieving the goal set by the Growth and Development Summit, and adopted by the government, of halving the 2004 levels of unemployment by 2014.

COSATU insists that no more jobs must be lost. Unemployment remains far too high and far too many of the small and shrinking number of new jobs are casual, temporary, insecure and low-paid, especially in construction and retail. As a result we have a growing army of working poor, who, combined with the unemployed, constitute more than 20 million people living in poverty.

Wage increases negotiated last year have long ago been more than cancelled out by rising inflation and virtually all workers are worse off in real terms than they were a year ago. For the unemployed and those in casual jobs, who could not negotiate any improvements last year, the situation is critical.

COSATU therefore demands that:

Wages, including the minimum wages for workers covered by sectoral determinations, must be increase sufficiently to at least fully compensate workers for the drop in their living standards over the past year;
Social grants must also be increased immediately by at least the current rate of inflation to cushion the poorest families from the effect of rocketing prices;
A basic income grant must be introduced to give a minimum income to those who presently do not qualify for social grants;
Tougher action must be taken against companies and their individual directors who are found guilty of price fixing, and they must be obliged to bring their prices back down;
Sasol and Arcelor Mittal must be renationalised and compelled to sell their petrol and steel at a price that reflects their actual cost of production rather than the inflated world market price.
Patrick Craven (National Spokesperson)

Congress of South African Trade Unions

1-5 Leyds Cnr Biccard Streets

Braamfontein, 2017

P.O. Box 1019

Johannesburg, 2000

SOUTH AFRICA

Tel: +27 11 339-4911/24

Fax: +27 11 339-5080/6940/ 086 603 9667

Cell: 0828217456

E-Mail: patrick@cosatu.org.za