(3 minutes read)
· The Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu) has given a clarion call to its members to strike work on Wednesday (7 October) as part of an ongoing dispute with the government
· Cosatu, the largest trade federation in the country, has asked its members to stay at home in support of the action due to the impact of the coronavirus pandemic
· It has an estimated membership of 1.8 million workers
The Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu) has given a clarion call to its members to strike work on Wednesday (7 October) as part of an ongoing dispute with the government. Cosatu, the largest trade federation in the country, has asked its members to stay at home in support of the action due to the impact of the coronavirus pandemic. It has an estimated membership of 1.8 million workers.
Cosatu said that it will also convene socially distanced pickets and motorcades across all the nine provinces, and in many identified towns and cities. The strike is primarily to focus on the wage dispute with the government. The federation is also demanding additional support to be given to frontline workers, and better governance.
Cosatu wanted the government to resolve major problems emanating from the transport sector in the country. Inadequate public transport system and its failure to keep pace with the requirements had impacted the overall economic system. It has also called for urgent steps to fix the country’s ailing state-owned enterprises and also to reverse the current export of South African capital. Billions of capital, it has pointed out, has been taken out of the country in the midst of widespread closures among all hues and sizes of industry.
