Amcu rejects minimum wage offer
- Published on 20 Mar 2015
- HR Pulse News Desk
Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union (Amcu) president Joseph Mathunjwa on Thursday described the mooted national minimum wage as a "gimmick" to placate workers without truly addressing the apartheid wage gap. Amcu, which is aligned to the National Council of Trade Unions (Nactu), voiced its rejection of the policy proposal in talks between business and labour under the auspices of the National Economic Development and Labour Council (Nedlac). The Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu) is pushing the proposal in the negotiation process that Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa leads. Mathunjwa expressed concern over the proposed scope of discussions at Nedlac and accused Cosatu of having "lost the plot" for pushing for the "populist" national minimum wage.
"This is a worrying time for the labour movement that is under constant attack from our corporatist state. The minimum wage is a populist statement made by Cosatu to avoid dealing with the fundamental challenges in SA,” he said. He added that the national minimum wage masked, rather than dealt head on, with the apartheid wage structure in SA.
The Nedlac process also sought to limit the right to strike that workers in SA fought hard for, as was evidenced in attempts to introduce strike balloting and the proposal from the government on compulsory interest arbitration, Mathunjwa said. He furthermore accused Cosatu and the Federation of SA Trade Unions (Fedusa) of endorsing "interest arbitration" to address prolonged and damaging strikes, but both federations have denied the charge.
