Johannesburg - The Congress of SA Trade Unions (Cosatu) will have to compete for members against its own former comrades, with the launch of a new union in the public sector formed by disgruntled and sidelined former leaders from the federation.
The new union, the SA Public Service Union (Sapsu), comprises sidelined leaders from the SA Democratic Teachers’ Union (Sadtu), the Public and Allied Workers’ Union of SA, the National Education Health and Allied Workers’ Union and the SA Municipal Workers’ Union.
Police, correctional services workers and members of the National Prosecuting Authority were also present at a national consultative meeting in Bloemfontein at the weekend, leading up to Thursday’s launch in Joburg.
Expelled Sadtu president Thobile Ntola, who is a senior leader of Sapsu, said discussions about the new union began two years ago, but momentum gained as leaders were sidelined within Cosatu affiliates.
The launch came as South Africa’s labour movement was in the grips of the “single most trying time” since the advent of democracy in 1994, said Lawrence Tsajwa, who serves on the national co-ordinating committee.
He said the union had been inspired by the National Union of Metalworkers of SA, but that it had not yet decided whether it would be part of the United Front that the metalworkers have launched across the country.
It would not be aligned to any political party, he said.
The Star