COSATU applauds the tabling of the Insourcing Bill at Parliament

COSATU applauds the tabling of the Insourcing Bill at Parliament. The Federation eagerly looks forward to its passage into law and implementation by organs across the state.

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This progressive and, indeed, long overdue Bill requires state organs to insource security, cleaning, gardening, catering, transport, administrative, healthcare, maintenance, information technology, auditing amongst other functions and, where this is not possible, to seek authorisation for such an exemption under specific conditions and criteria.

State organs clearly specified by the Bill include national and provincial departments, municipalities, entities and State-Owned Enterprises.

This bold and timely Bill speaks to Cosatu’s principled demand to insource key functions performed by various state organs. It responds to longstanding resolutions of the Federation and the ANC and the Tripartite Alliance.

The call to insource has been a cry for thousands of workers who have seen their hard-won labour rights continuously undermined, collective bargaining weakened and fragmented and conditions of service, including wages and pensions, deteriorate as they have been outsourced across the state over many years.

Employers across the state have sought to outsource as a way to deflect labour matters to a private sector employer. This has become a way to undermine the collective bargaining power of workers. Workers’ strength lies in their ability to organise. When workers are scattered, their ability to exercise their constitutional rights to form trade unions and collective bargaining is severely weakened. This is not by accident but rather by deliberate intent.