COSATU pledges to shut down Parliament tomorrow in support of striking workers

November 30 2015

COSATU delivered a message of support to the striking members of Nehawu at Parliament today. COSATU condemned the behaviour of the Management of Parliament for misrepresenting the position of Parliament and workers in the dispute related to bonuses. COSATU calls on the political leadership of Parliament to intervene in this matter and bring a resolution today.

Should there fail to be a resolution to this matter today Cosatu will be joining the strike and ensuring that no one is able to enter Parliament tomorrow. COSATU members will take solidarity action with Nehawu at Parliament and will shut it down until there is a resolution to this dispute. COSATU believes that workers must earn decent wages, not all the money must go to senior management and political leaders in Parliament.

COSATU also salutes the workers for taking up the issue of Labour Brokers and Outsourcing and ask that the matter of the outsourced workers be part of an overall agreement. The Parliament is the custodians of Labour Laws and the values of our society and the way they are conducting these negotiations is unacceptable. The Parliament is setting a bad example of how the South African business section should deal with Unions and they are violating workers rights.

Issued by Sizwe Pamla, National Spokesperson, COSATU, 30 November 2015