Workers cry for a better deal, Cyril

Tomorrow is May Day and South African trade unions will join millions around the globe to pay homage to workers.

Workers’ Day is not just another day off for workers. It celebrates workers’ rights and acknowledges the critical role labour organisations played in the fight against apartheid.

But sadly, the workers will have nothing to celebrate tomorrow as government is in the process of implementing the proposed national minimum wage of R20 an hour or R3 500 per month for workers.

This has left workers and trade unions livid and they have vowed to protest continue to rebel against the national minimum wage bill, which prescribes the much-maligned minimum wage for workers.

Last week workers joined the strike organised by the SA Federation of Trade Unions to protest against the implementation of the minimum wage.

Saftu secretary-general Zwelinzima Vavi described the minimum wage as a “slavery wage”, and we fully agree with him. This is an insult to workers.

All stakeholders need to revisit the matter and hopefully find a workable solution to the plight of the work force.

The cost of living has escalated in SA as prices keep on increasing and we are feeling the impact of the VAT increase, which has been hiked to 15%. How will anyone, let alone a household, survive on a paltry

R3 500 a month?

As the frontman of the Jacob Zuma administration during discussions with labour and business about the minimum wage, President Cyril Ramaphosa has been left holding the baby.

He admitted during a Freedom Day speech in Bloemfontein on Friday that R3 500 is not a living wage. But that in itself, for a former trade unionist like Ramaphosa, is not enough. He will need to put his negotiating skills to good use to strike a balance since workers – as seen during the Saftu strike – are not buying into the R20-an-hour package.

As you read this, the country is well and truly in strike season and the impasse in the public service wage talks also threatens to lead to work stoppages that will continue to cripple the country, especially on the back of the nationwide bus strike that enters its third week this week.

We hope negotiators find each other soon. The cost to the economy is already immeasurable.