The Federation of Unions of South Africa (Fedusa) said on Tuesday it had concluded an agreement to work with government, organised business and labour to tackle recession.
The agreement comes after Fedusa met Economic Development Minister Ebrahim Patel earlier on Tuesday to discuss the impact of the global recession and the framework for South Africa’s response to the international economic crisis.
Fedusa general secretary Dennis George said in a statement the first aspect of the agreement would be to obtain serious commitment from CEOs of companies.
They would also seek commitment from all the relevant Sector Education Training Authorities to urgently implement the agreed upon Training Lay-off Plan.
George said this would be done by ensuring that the R2,4-billion training allowance reached the pockets of working people.
The second aspect would be to urgently meet the CEOs of the four local major banks to ensure that credit flowed back into the economy to rekindle demand and supply.
Fedusa also planned to meet organised business and labour to nominate representatives to formulate a common pledge to guide them in addressing further retrenchments.
”This national pledge will commit and bind companies not to retrench workers during the current recession,” George said.
He said Patel has also pledged on behalf of government with Fedusa to fill all vacant public service positions as a matter of urgency.
Targeted sectors included the police, education and health in order to stimulate the economy and to enhance service delivery, George said.
He said the final aspect was the implementation of the Expanded Public Works Programme, which would focus on getting more unemployed workers into temporary employment.
George said this was to help sustain workers financially during these difficult times and to get money flowing back into the South African economy. — Sapa