The Congress of SA Trade Unions (Cosatu) strike enters its final day on Wednesday, with the federation warning that more workers will down tools to strike against government’s privatisation plans.
On Tuesday, Cosatu leaders told reporters in Johannesburg that at least 180 000 people — members of the federation and a number of non-Cosatu affiliated organisations — participated in marches countrywide, and about 60% of workers in the formal sector joined the strike. The figures were disputed by government and employers.
The Department of Public Enterprises said participation in Tuesday’s stayaway by employees of the four biggest state-owned companies was down 50% compared to a similar national strike organised by Cosatu last year.
The SA Chamber of Business said preliminary indications were that the strike caused an absenteeism rate of about 15%. This translated into an estimated production loss of some R225-million per working day.
It said a loss of remuneration per worker at a 15% strike support rate could total about R180-million per day. Sacob added, the indirect cost of the strike with regard to stability, productivity and image could not be quantified.
Also on Tuesday, Cosatu general secretary Zwelenzima Vavi told some
25 000 thousand anti-privatisation protesters in Johannesburg that the federation was not aligned with the ”extreme left” but was rather committed to the African National Congress government.
”We don’t have an agenda against the ANC …we have not become extreme leftists,” Vavi said in a clear reference to the ANC’s attack on the ”extreme left” at the party’s weekend policy conference.
”But if it is extreme left to protest against electricity cuts, then we are happy to declare that we are extreme left. If it is extreme left to demand a basic income grant, then we are extreme left,” Vavi told the roaring red-clad thousands.
Cosatu wants to put the brakes on the government’s privatisation plans, claiming privatisation makes ”services more expensive and less accessible for the poor”.
Cosatu also claims that privatisation has destroyed over 100 000 jobs so far. – Sapa