Numsa lashes out at reunion talks, labels them absurd

THERE will be no reunion between Cosatu and the National Union of Metalworkers.

Numsa spokeswoman Phakamile Hlubi labelled the claims absurd and said the metalworkers’ union was not in talks with its former federation.

This after Cosatu president Sdumo Dlamini, in an interview with Business Day, said the union would welcome Numsa back with open arms.

“Absolutely not. We are not in talks with Cosatu. Just to be clear, there are no talks and [we have] no intention of going back,” Hlubi said.

On Wednesday Business Day quoted Dlamini as saying Numsa would be welcomed back into the alliance, provided it abandoned its resolution to expand its scope to include workers not affiliated to the metalworkers’ industry.

Numsa, which was once Cosatu’s biggest affiliate in the private sector, is now in a partnership with the South African Federation of Trade Unions (Saftu) which is engaged in a public row with Cosatu over amendments to labour laws.

One of the only things Cosatu and Numsa agree on is a total ban on labour brokers.

Hlubi said her union had gone beyond street rhetoric and had taken legal steps to have the brokers banned.

The spokeswoman questioned why Cosatu, if it supported a ban on labour brokers, had not joined Numsa during court action over the matter last year.

“If we were in agreement, why was Cosatu not in court with us?

“Why didn’t they at least support our court application as a friend of Numsa to demonstrate they support the banning of labour brokers?”

In July, Numsa went to the Labour Appeals Court to seek clarity on the rights of contract workers‚ after the three-month period referred to in the Labour Relations Act 198A(3)(b) kicked in.

The Labour Appeal Court ruled all contracts of workers should automatically be converted to permanent contracts – with all rights and benefits afforded to permanent workers – after three months.

Hlubi said it was important to remember that Numsa had been expelled because it rejected the ANC making decisions harmful to workers.