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Unions return to core focus of representing workers
- Published on 14 Mar 2016
- HR Pulse News Desk
This is due to what they describe as a job-loss bloodbath. Most union leaders are run off their feet trying to keep up with retrenchments in their sectors. The National Union of Mineworkers’ (NUM’s ) David Sipunzi said last month his union’s membership had slipped from a high of more than 300,000 to 198,000.
From Highveld Steel to Scaw Metals, and the engineering and motor components industries, all are feeling the pain. The National Union of Metalworkers of SA’s (Numsa’s) Irvin Jim says 40,000 jobs had been lost in the engineering sector by the end of last year. The Food and Allied Workers Union’s (Fawu’s) Katishi Masemola said the drought has hit the agricultural sector hard.
Former Cosatu general secretary Zwelinzima Vavi says union leaders are "running around like headless chickens", defending workers in firms undergoing retrenchment processes. And, while Cosatu’s largest unions organise in the public sector, the state is set to add to the squeeze, with a jobs freeze.
Source: SA Labour News
