Johannesburg - Cosatu says it will take to the streets on March 1 as a culmination of its plan of action against the Tax Laws Amendment Act which includes retirement reforms.
The federation said it had already started mobilising its members who have vowed to fight until President Jacob Zuma repeals the new reforms which have had undesirable effects on relations between labour and government. March 1 is the date the new law comes into effect.
A series of demonstrations has been planned, starting on Friday outside the National Economic Development and Labour Caucus (Nedlac) office in Rosebank where a meeting over the amendments will be taking place.
Addressing the media in Johannesburg on Thursday, Cosatu general secretary Bheki Ntshalintshali said there had been informal meetings with Treasury to discuss their unhappiness with the law. Friday's meeting at Nedlac would likely reveal if the government was considering an about-turn on the law.
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Cosatu and other unions are unhappy with an amendment in the reforms taking away workers’ right to choose whether to withdraw their retirement savings as lumps, limiting them to only a third while the two-thirds had to be invested in annuities.
Ntshalintshali said the law, which was implemented unilaterally, was a provocation to workers but also a worrying rejection and abandonment of ANC and alliance positions by the government.
“The context of this struggle was located to be beyond just provident fund laws but to be about a case of a classical neoliberalism offensive from government that preaches austerity measures and also expects workers to pay for the sins of others,” said Ntshalintshali.
Cosatu President Sdumo Dlamini also reiterated the federation’s position that by challenging the laws they weren't blaming Zuma but rather the legislative processes that unfolded prior to him signing the amendment act.
“If there was any blame, it was that which we have already been putting on parliamentarians who were sleeping on the wheel. We are not talking about the president but the people who passed the law and should have asked for the Nedlac report. The president would have been nowhere to be the deciding factor there. They are complicit,” said Dlamini.
LABOUR BUREAU