Trade union federations expressed satisfaction on Friday with a government assurance that workers’ rights would not be tampered with.
”We got an assurance that there will be no loss of rights that workers enjoy at this stage,” National Council of Trade Unions general secretary Mahlomola Skhosana said after a meeting with President Thabo Mbeki and Cabinet ministers in Pretoria.
”There will not be any two-tier system for workers in this country. There will be no undercutting of workers in small and medium enterprises,” he said.
Also present at Friday’s trade union working group meeting were representatives of the Congress of SA Trade Unions (Cosatu) and the Federation of Unions of SA.
Much of the discussion centred on government plans to review the impact of the current regulatory environment on small and medium enterprises –which unions feared could impact on workers’ rights.
Finance Minister Trevor Manuel said unions would form part of a process to examine the regulatory environment.
”As government, we gave an assurance that there is no intention of decreasing the rights of workers,” he said. ”We must all work together and not talk past each other.”
Trade and Industry Minister Mandisi Mpahlwa said small business development has been identified as central to creating jobs and fighting poverty.
Yet the sector faced many difficulties and constraints, especially given the history of a South African economy dominated by large companies.
”It becomes important for us to look at what kind of dispensation we can create to promote the growth of small and medium enterprises.”
This did not boil down only to a question labour rights and regulations, he said. One would also have to consider the impact of issues like black economic empowerment.
Cosatu general secretary Zwelinzima Vavi said it was clear from Friday’s talks that the government appreciated the importance of workers in small and medium enterprises enjoying the same legislative protection as their counterparts in big business.
There would be continued discussions on the government’s planned review, he added.
”The review does not mean that government intends to do away with gains made in terms of workers’ rights.
”We are happy that there is a commitment to engage with us and that there will be no imposition on us,” Vavi said.
Issues of poverty and joblessness in general were also discussed, including the role of the government’s expanded public works programme in creating employment.
Vavi said unions used the opportunity to raise its concerns on job cuts in the clothing and textile, and mining industries.
In the mining industry, the cause of the deterioration was a too strong rand, while cheap imports were to blame in the case of the clothing and textile industry, unions claim.
In the latter case, unions were hoping to push the retail sector to embrace the ”Proudly South African” campaign — encouraging the purchasing of locally produced goods.
But Vavi stressed that Friday’s meeting was not the appropriate forum for discussing these matters. The solution rested with the National Economic Development and Labour Council (Nedlac), which included representatives of business, labour and the government.
Were Nedlac to fail in resolving the issues giving rise to job losses in the two industries, he added, ”we will definitely strike”.
The purpose of raising the issue at Friday’s meeting, Vavi explained, was ”to say to the government the house is on fire. We highlighted these issues here in the hope that the government will work with us.” – Sapa