By Prevashni Ramsamy
The country is set to be rocked by the Congress of South African Trade Unions' (Cosatu) nationwide strikes, it was announced on Friday.
The staggered action, planned over the next five weeks, would take place sector by sector before catapulting into regional action in the various provinces over the next four months.
"This programme is to fight against the massive job losses experienced in this country over the years.
"We demand that government immediately implement decisions made last year at the Job Summit to initiate the creation of sustainable jobs," said Cosatu's regional secretary Sphelele Zuma on Friday.
Zuma said unions were not making unfair demands without helping to realise these initiatives.
"We have, since March last year, established a R22-million Job Creation Fund that has been dedicated to the raising of funds to implement programmes after April this year," he said.
Also on the union agenda were plans to force Government to slow down the reduction of import tariffs and implement customs and excise regulations to protect the country's workforce.
Singled out as a company reneging on promises to contract only local traders was Mr Price, the clothing store chain, which the union said had actually increased its external trading contracts, thereby denying local workforces employment.
The first phase of action, planned by affiliate bodies South African Congress of Textile Workers' Union (Sactwu) and National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa (Numsa), would involve picketing and strikes outside Mr Price stores before culminating in a mass march next Friday, February 5.
The strikes would be followed by affiliates in different sectors over the next month.
"We will picket outside various Mr Price stores around the region early on Friday morning before meeting at Curries Fountain and marching to City Hall to hand over a memorandum to representatives of the Department of Trade and Chamber of Commerce and Industry next week," Zuma said.
The union also said members were tired of policies and legislation protecting the rights of the employer rather than the employee.
"Employers fail to realise that retrenchments made in the factory context affect thousands more than those actually retrenched," said Zuma.
"In the extended family scenario in South Africa, one salary supports 10 people.
"Not only does the resultant starvation caused by the loss of that job cause crime and disease, it demotivates those still employed whose future seems uncertain."
The union said if demands were not met after the first five weeks, the province's workforce would undertake mass action from April 24 to 29.