The Working Class Must Defend it’s Right to Strike and Fight for a Living Wage: NUMSA

The National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa (NUMSA) which represents over 350 thousand workers and their families has called all the members of the working class to unite to fight for a living wage and to defend the right to strike.

From May 2018, the government intends to implement changes to the Labour Relations Act (LRA), Basic Conditions of Employment Act (BCEA) and intends to implement the National Minimum Wage Bill of 20 Rands per hour. The Department of Labour has been holding public consultations on these proposals and the proposed changes will be submitted on January 10, 2018.

According to a press release from NUMSA, these changes are an attack on the working class and their families because they reduce the hard-won rights which the workers had fought and died for under the Apartheid. The statement also mentions nine reasons why NUMSA has rejected the proposed changes to the legislation, the most threatening one being the proposal to limit the working class’s right to strike.

“We reject the proposal for the implementation of secret ballots during strikes because it is a cleverly disguised way of attacking our constitutional right to strike,” wrote the statement and added “Farmworkers are being abused and killed by employers and the department of labour has failed to address this crisis, but it is willing to act in cahoots with business to attack the working class and their families, with these backward proposals”.

The NUMSA also rejected the proposal which grants the Minister of the Labour the power to get a court interdict to suspend a lengthy strike and the Code of Good Practice on Collective Bargaining, Industrial Action and Picketing because ‘it is based on the racist assumption that African workers are violent savages’.

“In essence, the Code blames workers who are victims of a violent capitalist system, the same way that patriarchy blames women for being victims of rape,” said the statement.

The organisation also demanded a living wage and not just a minimum wage for the workers and raised a strong voice of dissent against the proposed National Minimum Wage (NMW) of 20 rands (R) per hour. According to the statement, a recent survey by StatsSA found that white South African households still earn the highest average incomes in the country at approximately R444,446 a year. This is almost 5 times more than black South Africans, who earn R92,893 per year, and yet they represent over 80% of the population, compared to Whites who make up just 8%.

“The miners of Marikana were murdered by the state for daring to demand a living wage of R12500 per month. The amount of R20 per hour is an insult to their memory.”

The NUMSA also asked the Labour Department to make the NMW dynamic and asked the companies to disclose their financials in order to make a true determination of a fair NMW. It also asks the state to guarantee a 40 hour work week and put measures in place to ensure compliance with this rule. “The state must abolish labour brokering and all other abusive, super exploitative labour practices in order to transform society,” concluded the statement.