The Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu) has vowed to fight an anticipated flurry of retrenchments in the new year as companies come to blows with the global economic recession.
In a briefing at its headquarters on Monday, Cosatu, which is part of the ruling tripartite alliance, said it will never abandon its primary role as an independent defender of workers’ rights ahead of what is expected to be the toughest elections for the African National Congress.
“In the aftermath of the world recession, it will be more vital than ever to have a strong, militant workers’ movement to defend our class from the threat of even higher unemployment and falling living standards,” the federation said.
Locally, companies are already being pinched by the global economic crisis with companies from the mining, auto and steel sectors offloading workers as demand for products slump, raising fears that the local unemployment rate could rise.
South Africa’s exact unemployment rate is in contention, with unions pegging it at about 40% and government putting it at 23%. — I-Net Bridge