Johannesburg -
The Congress of SA Trade Unions in the North West will hold its Workers Day rally at Olympia stadium in Rustenburg, the union said on Monday.
“We are calling all workers of the North West to celebrate the workers day with peace and stability in all our workplaces and be critical in dealing with issues that affect the workers but stop killing each other,” Cosatu North West provincial secretary Solly Phetoe said.
He called on all employers to stop intimidating workers and threatening that they would be dismissed for attending Workers Day events on May 1, or voting on May 7.
“We call on all workers to unite and fight for their rights,” he said.
The Rustenburg area and the platinum belt is reeling with the effects of a drawn-out strike by the Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union (Amcu), who are still aiming to settle with a R12 500 salary for platinum miners.
The demand surfaced during a strike in 2012.
During the strike, police shot 34 people dead, mostly miners protesting at Marikana.
In the preceding week, 10 people, including two policemen and two security guards, were killed in strike-related violence.
The National Union of Mineworkers, an affiliate of Cosatu, lost its majority status in the North West in 2013 after many mineworkers left to join Amcu. - Sapa