COSATU Gauteng Picket at the Constitutional Court and the Department of Public Service and Administration

23 August 2021

The Congress of South African Trade Unions in Gauteng will be picketing at the Constitutional Court on the 24th of August 2021 in defence of collective bargaining. This comes after government reneged on the implementation of the last leg of PSCBC Resolution 1 of 2018 and took public sector unions to the labour court that ruled in favour of the government.

Collective bargaining is enshrined in the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa and the Labour Relations Act and will be defended. The government has turned against workers and the working class through austerity measures which are destroying the livelihood of workers and the working class broadly. We will fight this heinous act by the government until the last drop of our blood in defence of the hard-won victories by our forebears.

The non-implementation of the last leg of PSCBC Resolution 1 of 2018 came at the time when South Africa is fighting Covid-19. Most public servants are frontline workers who are a buffer between the deadly Covid-19 and the saving of lives, but the government decided to ignore their livelihood. Covid-19 resulted in more economic distress in this country that resulted in job losses, increases in food, fuel, rates, and service and electricity prices. Whilst this is a reality that affects South Africans broadly, public servants have not received their 2020 salary increases. With this being the case, COSATU in Gauteng calls all public servants to stand up and fight for constitutional rights and attend pickets at the Constitutional Court in Johannesburg and the DPSA in Tshwane. Public servants can either fight or starve hence COSATU chose to fight. 

Issued by Amos Monyela, Provincial Chairperson, COSATU, 23 August 2021