COSATU TABLES "D" NOTICE REGARDING PROTEST ACTION ON
PRIVATISATION
3 AUGUST 2001
Late yesterday the Congress of South African Trade Unions,
Cosatu, tabled a Section 77(1)(d) notice at Nedlac giving details
of the protest action it intends undertaking on the issue of
privatisation.
Nedlac's standing committee on Section 77 notices earlier
yesterday agreed that there seemed to be no possibility of
Government accepting Cosatu's demand that Government halt all
privatisation initiatives pending the establishment of policy and
legislation to guide restructuring, as specified in Cosatu's
notice. The Standing Committee therefore agreed that the matter
could be deemed to have been considered in Nedlac, as per the
requirements of Section 77(1)(c) of the Labour Relations Act.
In its notice, Cosatu indicated that the protest action would
take the form of a two-day national stay-away preceded by two
regional stay-aways. Cosatu said the national stay-away would take
place on 29 and 30 August. During the stay-away, marches and
demonstrations would take place.
On the 16th and 21st August, there would be two regional
stay-aways. On 16 August, the Wits, Western Cape and Northern
Province regions would stay away, whilst on 21 August, workers in
Mpumalanga, KwaZulu-Natal, Eastern Cape, Northern Cape & Free
State would stay away.
Employers should contact Cosatu's regional secretaries if they
are in any doubt about the action, how it affects shift workers and
which region they fall into.
Background
Cosatu tabled a Section 77(1)(b) notice at Nedlac on 14 June. A
meeting of the Nedlac Standing Committee was held to consider the
notice on 29 June. Subsequent to this meeting, one bilateral
meeting was held between Government and Cosatu, subsequent to
Government's responding in writing to the issues raised in Cosatu's
notice. The standing committee met with the parties again on 2
August.
In the notice, Cosatu refers to the programme the state has
embarked upon to privatise state assets, enterprises, services and
undertakings. It also refers to the restructuring of state
enterprises, undertakings and services carried out by the state and
the state's opening up of industries or sectors in order to provide
for competition. The notice states that Cosatu is not opposed to
restructuring in itself, but it argues that the state's
restructuring process forms part and parcel of the broader
privatisation programme, which it opposes.
Cosatu's notice argues that the state's privatisation programme
detrimentally affects the socio-economic interests of the poor,
which includes workers and the working class in general. It
specifies a number of demands, including that government halt all
privatisation initiatives pending the establishment of a clear
policy and legislation to guide restructuring. The notice says that
the policy must be binding on all state-owned or controlled
entities, and must be negotiated by the parties to Nedlac, and
subsequently tabled as legislation. In the notice Cosatu says that
the protest would include marches, protest rallies, demonstrations
and an initial stayaway of two days
The notice was tabled in terms of Section 77 of the Labour
Relations Act, which allows registered trade unions or federations
of trade unions to undertake protest action to promote and protect
the social and economic interests of workers, if they follow
certain procedures. [Section 77 (1)(a)]. Before embarking on
protest action, the trade union concerned is required to serve
notice on Nedlac stating the reasons for the protest action and the
intended nature of the protest action. [Section 77(1)(b).] The Act
requires the Nedlac parties to meet with the trade union and the
parties at whom the notice is directed, to consider the issues
raised.[Section 77(1)(c)]. Should the issues remain unresolved
after thorough consideration, workers are entitled to participate
in protected protest action 14 days after serving a second notice
on Nedlac of their intention to proceed with the action. [Section
77(1)(d)].
Issued in Johannesburg3 August 2001
Contact Jennifer Wilson
011 - 482 2511
082 495 1341
The full text of the Cosatu (d) notice can be found here.
Clickhere
for information on the Protest action.
Jennifer WilsonCommunications CoordinatorNedlac(011)
482-2511fax: 482 4650082 495 1341