NUMSA STATEMENT ON THE DISMISSED 245 DUNLOP WORKERS!

Tuesday 2 October 2012

The KwaZulu-Natal National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa (Numsa) sees the so-called dismissal of the two hundred and forty five (245) workers by Dunlop's filthy rich capitalist bosses as a continuous and malicious offensive by capital to undermine workers' hard won right to strike and a misguided ploy to liquidate the collective bargaining power of the union.

The Dunlop workers have been on a protected strike action since August 22, 2012, in demand of a living wage and improved conditions of employment as encoded in the Labour Relations Act. The struggles of the Dunlop workers have been a genuine and legitimate demand for fair and equal redistribution of wealth at the point of production amidst the skyrocketing cost of living and deepening socio-economic hardships faced by the working class and poor households.

As NUMSA we will leave no stone untouched to get these workers re-instated. We will not idly standby and allow the Dunlop ruling oligarchy to subject workers to poverty wages, while the greedy managers are receiving scandalously high salaries and atrociously excessive remuneration perks.

We call on the workers not to be intimidated by these concocted threats of dismissals, but remain united and vigilant until their demands of a living wage are met by Dunlop bosses.

We know that united and militant, we shall overcome the greed of the bosses!

Furthermore, we want to call on the Dunlop bosses to open doors of engagement with the union with the sole intention of resolving the prolonged strike action.

We refuse to conform to the capitalist market embedded strategy of profit maximisation whilst our members are economically bleeding and feeling the pinch as a result of the high cost of living and burden imposed on them by the triple crisis of poverty, unemployment and inequalities by the very same bosses such as those at Dunlop.

We repeat: Dunlop must, urgently, engage with the Union, or face the consequences of their intransigence. 

Statement issued by Mbuso Ngubane, NUMSA KwaZulu-Natal Regional Secretary, October 2 2012

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