Johannesburg - The Communication Workers Union (CWU) says its march to Luthuli House is the first of many campaigns it is rolling out against job losses in state-owned enterprises.
The union wants the ANC to force its ministerial deployees overseeing Telkom and Post Office to give into its demands which include an end to retrenchments.
CWU members marched through Johannesburg to the ANC headquarters where they handed over a memorandum of demands on Thursday, bringing traffic in some parts of the city to a standstill.
After exhausting all other available avenues, the union had no other choice but to bring their demands to the doorstep of the ruling party, according to its president, Clyde Mervin.
“We went to various government offices, we went to Telkom and the Post Office and we got no answers. We even went to Parliament and nothing materialised.
“All state owned entities’ ministers are appointed by the ANC, hence we are going to Luthuli House. We are saying here is what you have to do, workers cannot be retrenched like this at Telkom,” explained Mervin.
Central to the union’s concerns are the continued retrenchments that have taken place at Telkom as part of the company’s restructuring plans.
Another issue was the high number workers at the Post Office who remain casual employees, with no benefits or salary increases, despite their many years with the entity.
One of the protesters said she had worked as a mail processor at the Joburg Post Office Mail Centre for four years but had very little to show for it.
“I want the Post Office to make me permanent and give me an increase. I can’t even buy a house on this salary and I am the only bread winner,” she said.
It is was not immediately clear who from the ANC would receive the workers’ memorandum but Mervin expected the marchers to disperse thereafter.
Labour Bureau