Cosatu urges retrenchment as last resort

DECENT WORK Cosatu urges retrenchment as last resort KILL: DAY Create decent jobs!

- THAMI MAGUBANE

Ban labour brokers! CLIBR TRADE union federation Cosatu marked the International Day for Decent Work in Tshwane with demonstrations at the Department of Labour's head office. Marches were also held in Durban, Johannesburg and Cape Town. I OUPA MOKOENA Independent Newspapers THAMI MAGUBANE [e-mail] THE Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu) has called on employers to explore other cost-saving strategies in the running of their businesses and ensure that retrenchment is the last resort.

The federation made the call as it marched in Durban yesterday as part of the International Day for Decent Work.

The union was joined by one of its affiliates, the South African Democratic Teachers Union (Sadtu). In a memorandum delivered at the Durban City Hall yesterday, the union said South Africans are under severe strain.

"We join hands with our comrades across the world in the fight for decent work and human dignity. We are here to express our anger and disappointment at the lack of care, support, and protection of workers by both the government and employers, who continue to put profits and elite interests above the needs of workers and the poor.

"Workers in South Africa continue to face major challenges, including mass unemployment, deep poverty, and extreme inequality. Their living conditions are worsened by low wages, rising food prices, unaffordable transport costs, and soaring utility tariffs.