MAY DAY MARCH HIGHLIGHTS WORKERS’ PLIGHT
CAPITALISTS have no respect and interest in the working class who sell their labour and continue to put profit before human beings.
This was read out of a memorandum of demands handed over to the Chris Hani district office of the labour department and Komani branch of Border Kei Chamber of Business (BKCOB) as part of May Day celebrations on Monday.
Cosatu regional secretary for the Vusumzi Mjila local Mawethu Ndyalvane handed over the memo.
Ndyalvane said Cosatu was convinced the capitalist system was comfortable when the working class and the poor were suffering and dying of hunger and used this to turn members of the working class against each other.
“Cosatu has observed the tendency of employers who create labour unrest in order for them to have reasons to retrench workers freely and this can not be allowed to continue unchallenged.”
Cosatu called on the workers to desist from attacking each other and focus on the common enemy, “the capital” which continued to exploit workers daily.
He said the Department of Higher Education and Training (DHET) employees did not get service from education department offices and as a result, DHET had to have district offices.
“Cosatu condemns the conduct of government departments and municipalities, in the Chris Hani and Joe Gqabi districts, for privatisation, outsourcing and casualisation of work. The office of the premier [Phumulo Masualle] instructed all departments to pay all benefits due to workers. The departments did not comply with that directive.”
Government departments did not fill vacant budgeted for posts, leading to overloaded employees.
The workers' federation demanded all cases that occurred during recent strikes in Joe Gqabi and Chris Hani, be set aside; that employees who had worked in one place for more than three months be made permanent and that the minimum wage bill be implemented. It demanded local labour forums in municipalities have meaningful engagement with binding agreements.
“We demand the urgent filling of all funded vacant posts. We call upon government to release a white paper on the National Health Insurance plan and pay attention to the state of the healthcare system.”
Labour department Chris Hani district head Mike Ngqolowa said the memo would be sent to proper structures.
Komani BKCOB chairwoman Adré Bartis said the chamber acknowledged the content of the memo.
“We will take the memo to the business fraternity. We want to see the economy grow and we can not do that without the workforce.”