Pretoria - People living and working in Tshwane have been encouraged not to go to work tomorrow and rather stay at home or assemble and demonstrate against government and employers retrenching workers.
Spokesperson for Cosatu, Sizwe Pamla, told Pretoria News that every individual worker in Tshwane could participate in the Cosatu-led national strike by simply staying at home.
“Those with means can travel to Mary Fitzgerald Square in Joburg where we will gather in numbers to send a strong message to employers and government and hand over a memorandum to the Gauteng Legislature and Chamber of Mines.”
He said Tshwane workers needed to know that the strike was not about low skilled workers but every single person who has a job. He said employers were now retrenching people in every industry.
“Look at the SABC, look at Eskom and look at the mining sector; everyone is running out of work. It doesn’t matter how educated you are. We are saying if we as the workers do not stick together employers will continue doing as they please.
"You could be very educated and experienced but find yourself queuing to cash your cheque at the Unemployment Insurance Fund.
Pamla said the this mass action was organised in terms of Section 77 of the Labour Relations Act and will be joined by numerous unions affiliated to Cosatu.
Workers will also highlight other plights, including corruption in municipalities, the VAT increase and privatisation of state owned enterprises (SOEs). They will also demand decent jobs for all and the absorption of all EPWP workers.
Pamla said the strike was intentionally planned ahead of the budget speech by Minister of Finance Tito Mboweni to hopefully convince him to table a budget that is pro-poor and pro-people.
“We feel that for far too long government has been prioritising the private sector and ignoring the workers. In 2012 they decreased the corporate tax and recently they noticed that was a bad idea and they increased VAT to 15%.”
He said Wednesday presented an opportunity for Tshwane workers to take a stand and show government and employers. “if they stopped working, government will see that there will be no South African economy to talk about.”
He said this was a protected national strike and no employee would be disciplined or dismissed for participating in the strike action.
“We further urge workers to report any employer who discourages or intimidates workers from participating in the strike action.”