The Congress of South African Trade Unions is organising nationwide protests on Wednesday, 7 October, calling for greater protection against job losses, inadequate wages and pressures on household budgets.
According to eNCA’s report, the action marks the annual international day for decent work. COSATU says workers face widespread retrenchments, failures to comply with the national minimum wage and challenges to collective bargaining rights.
The federation is presenting the demonstrations as a response to unemployment, poverty and inequality. It argues that continued job cuts are worsening the difficulties facing workers and their families.
Job losses and workplace disputes
Speaking to SABC News, COSATU spokesperson Zanele Sabela said planned marches would also focus on disputes involving Sun International and Massmart.
Sabela said the federation was challenging planned reductions in staffing at Sun International’s physical casinos. She also called for the reinstatement of Makro workers dismissed following a strike in 2021, which she described as lawful and protected.
Those accounts represent COSATU’s position on the disputes. The SABC report cited here does not include responses from the companies.
Mineworkers join the mobilisation
The National Union of Mineworkers, in a statement issued on 5 October, urged workers in mining, energy, construction and metalworking to participate in COSATU’s demonstrations.
Its demands include living wages, safe workplaces, social protection and respect for collective bargaining.
The union also alleged that employers were replacing permanent posts with insecure subcontracted work and using training programmes to displace established employees. It argued that skills programmes should create sustainable careers, while restructuring should not be used to weaken job security.
These are allegations made by the union, rather than findings established independently in its statement.
A scheduled day of action
An advance notice published by the National Employers’ Association of South Africa listed the protest period as 9am to 4.30pm on Wednesday. It identified the economic crisis, rising living costs and demands for decent work as the reasons given for the action.
The reports available on Wednesday morning describe the mobilisation and its objectives. They do not yet establish nationwide attendance figures or the outcome of the demonstrations. The immediate focus is on the demands unions are taking into the streets, with the scale and impact of the action still to be confirmed.
