Unions must ensure they are compliant if they want minister’s intervention
LABOUR Minister Mildred Oliphant warned Cosatu she would no longer intervene if its affiliates were being deregistered for non-compliance in the future.
Oliphant was addressing the federation’s national elective congress yesterday in Midrand, Joburg, which is being concluded today.
Oliphant said with the escalating number of unions that did not meet compliance requirements, her powers had been clipped by the Labour Court which deemed the Office of the Registrar as independent.
“It pains me to notice the increase in the number of trade unions that are either behind in terms of their compliance or completely non-compliant.
“Those who approach the minister for rescue when they are found to be non-compliant by the registrar will not get any relief – as that will, according to the Labour Court, be seen as interference with the independence of the registrar. I therefore urge you to ensure that you are up-to-date with your compliance,” Oliphant said.
Deregistered affiliates are not permitted to organise in workplaces.
Yesterday, the federation spent most of the third day of its congress debating organisational resolutions aimed at strengthening it and its affiliates, after it suffered a massive decline over recent years –which has shrunk its finances.
Cosatu has resolved to now extend the tenure of its national leaders from a three-year term to a four-year term as part of cost cutting, among other reasons.
With programmes of the federation being compromised, unions have also resolved to consider instituting a debit facility targeting former leaders in an attempt to fund May Day events.
A 20c levy would also be considered for members to help fund the annual event.
A call to discuss the possibility of drawing the SA Federation of Trade Unions back to Cosatu was squashed by delegates, backed by newly elected president Zingiswa Losi.
She said it was not appropriate to discuss Saftu in a Cosatu congress.
“We need to build strong unions than to be really spending time analysing and discussing in detail others,” she said.
Losi – the first woman president of the federation – is expected to give a closing address and chart a path for the recovery of the federation, which has lost hundreds of thousands of workers after some unions left, while some lost members because of leadership infighting.