TRADE union federation Cosatu is preparing its input on the national elective conferences of its allies, the ANC and the SA Communist Party (SACP), scheduled for later this year.
Yesterday, Cosatu announced that preparing its inputs for the constitutional meetings of its tripartite alliance partners, the ANC national conference and the SACP’s national congress, after its central executive committee (CEC) meeting this week.
The CEC expressed its concern that nearly five years after the ANC’s Nasrec conference in December 2017, at which President Cyril Ramaphosa was elected ANC leader, progress in implementing its economic resolutions was too slow.
”Key elements of economic policy which are out of kilter with Nasrec, remain in place, and are being entrenched by centres of power in the state which remain committed to pre- Nasrec perspectives, particularly the National Treasury,” Cosatu said.
In the run-up to the ANC’s 2017 national conference, Cosatu publicly backed Ramaphosa.
The federation has held its nine provincial congresses ahead of its national congress in September. ”We have started our preparatory processes for our upcoming 14th national congress in September this year,” Cosatu said.
According to the federation, it will continue to develop a job-loss monitoring mechanism to keep tabs on job losses in the economy and form a united front against poverty and unemployment.
”We intend to continue to fight for the rights of workers as the fundamental basis of South Africa’s labour market policy,” Cosatu said.
It has also undertaken to recruit workers to join its affiliates, because it is through its unions that workers can take advantage of their rights in the law.
”We commit ourselves to resist, with all our energy and power, attempts to reduce the rights of workers under the guise of ‘labour market flexibility’. We will strengthen the rights of workers in small businesses, with a combination of an organising strategy and protection of the rights in the law,” Cosatu added.
Cosatu’s CEC has resolved to continue to intervene on affiliated trade unions dealing with internal challenges including those under administration by the registrar of labour relations.
”We plan to intensify the fight against increasingly hostile employers, and campaign against retrenchments across all sectors of the economy as a result of Covid-19,” the federation commented.
Political Bureau