COSATU NW held its first provincial shop stewards council on the 11th April 2014 at Ben Marais Hall and received the summary reports on the following issues

• May day mobilization
• 2014 election program
• Expensive toll gate
• Labour brokers
• Gender-based violence and racial discrimination

The provincial council was attended by more than 1800 shop stewards from all our affiliates in the NW.

The provincial shop stewards council also received messages of support from our alliance partners - SACP, SANCO and the ANC.

MAY DAY CELEBRATION

The progress report was submitted and adopted with the remaining three programs towards our celebration of May Day on 1st May 2014 at Olympia stadium, Rustenburg.

All our affiliates recommitted themselves to making sure that all workers, with support of all communities and their families, are going celebrate the workers’ day together, as it will be part of celebrating our twenty years of democracy going forward to our next national and provincial election on 7th May 2014.
The council also reaffirmed its responsibilities to make sure that the remaining activities must be attended by all affiliates and mobilizing workers and communities in the so-called hot spots of the mining area.

The PSSC resolved that COSATU must fight against those employers who are continue to refuse to allow workers to celebrate their workers day and that the dismissal of workers and their shop stewards in 2013 for attending the May Day celebration by Sun City must be the campaign of the federation.
All those workers, with their shop stewards, must be reinstated before the Election Day.

All affiliates were reminded that workers day or any public holiday must be non-trading and that employers must be told publicly that no worker must work on that day or on 7th May 2014 - Election Day.

2014 NATIONAL AND PROVINCIAL ELECTIONS

The 2014 national and provincial election progress report was presented, with the remaining program targeting hot spots such as in the mining and farm areas in the province.

The report covers the work done by affiliates and locals and the joint program with the alliance, MDM structures and the traditional leaders in rural areas.

The report reflected some weaknesses from the federation in attending the election work, in particular during door-to-door campaigns in the mining and farm areas and a lack of commitment from some of our workplace forums.

The provincial council resolved that in the remaining three weeks we must focus on the hot spots and our own workforce that have not been addressed on why workers should vote for the ANC.
As we are mobilizing our members and other communities for the workers’ day celebration we must continue to do election work, in particular focusing on door-to-door in those areas that we have not reached.

As we work together with ANC, our program must be able to address the challenges facing the communities, in particular the issues of service delivery, as they are the biggest threat to our election campaign.

All our affiliates with their shop stewards reaffirmed their commitment to make sure that our remaining election programs must be intensified, with the support of all our members and the communities.

STATE OF OUR CAMPAIGN ON TOLL GATE

The report was adopted on the state of our campaign against the expensive toll gate, since the last activity of the slow drive on the N4 with the massive blockage of traffic, and the council was happy that our campaign is putting pressure to the capitalists and our government.

Affiliates adopted a program that every two weeks we must close the traffic from the Marikina toll gate to the expensive one at Swartruggens plaza until Sanral and Bakwena listen to the masses of our people.

Affiliates recommitted themselves that the next drive slow must be bigger than the last one and the traffic must be blocked, with or without permission, until we win our game against anyone who is the owner of that expensive toll gate.

LABOUR BROKERS

The council reaffirmed its position from the last PSSC as directed by the congress resolutions those of the living wage bargaining conference declarations.

The PSSC also resolved that the federation must identify all companies that are using labour brokers and contractors including those continuing to exploit workers. Mass action must take place against those companies demanding full time employment for those workers.

GENDER-BASED VIOLENCE

The PSSC received and updated reports on the current state of the campaign that indicated a poor response from our affiliates, in particular our women and gender structures on the challenges facing our women and the workplace, including our women and children being raped on a daily basis by their family members. Sometimes children as young as three months are raped by their fathers or uncles.

Our women in the mines are raped and killed underground and we are not there to support them during the court cases.
All our affiliates reaffirmed their support and are making sure that all their structures are well informed regarding any program on the matter of racial discrimination and racial killing at the workplace, and defending our women and children at home and at the workplace.

NOB INPUTS

The First Deputy President Comrade James presented the following issues to the PSSC as per the mandate of the NOBs’:

• The current status of COSATU and the intervention by the ANC
• The 2014 election campaign and why workers must vote for the ANC
• May Day celebration for 2014
The PSSC accepted the intervention from the ANC and called for COSATU to make sure that the intervention is not about the election for 2014. The intervention must be real and resolve all the challenges that workers are facing, including the current situation in the mining industry where workers are killed every day, and the labour brokers and for the e-tolling system to be scraped.

All affiliates supported the notion of unity of the federation and that all leaders must speak with one united voice of real unity and building a strong COSATU to advance the working class agenda and fight against the exploitation of all workers in the RSA.

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