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MATLOSANA MAYORAL PROJECT (LABOUR BROKERS)

The Congress of South African Trade Unions strongly condemns the attitude of the Matlosana municipality, which, under the Mayoral Project, is exploiting 400 workers who have been employed under labour brokers for four years.

COSATU supports the current strike of those workers, who are demanding the permanent employment they were promised by the municipality and its mayor.

It is reported to the federation that these poor workers have been used against SAMWU, as scab labour during the SAMWU strike by the and union bashing Matlosana municipality. The majority of these workers have been employed on a month-to-month or year-to-year contract with no benefits since 2006. Part of their work was to clean the graveyard in Jouberton, clear the sewerage and clean the street.

The workers complained today at COSATU Provincial Office that when they demanded assistance from COSATU and attempted to join SAMWU in 2007, they were threatened to be dismissed.

We are happy as the federation that after four years workers are able to say that this federation is the sphere of the poor workers. Therefore nobody will or must stop them from joining the union of their choice. We call on the Matlosana municipality to employ those 400 workers as permanent workers as promised since 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009 now we are in 2010. The labour broker that has been used against SAMWU must allow those workers to join the union and also to be employment by Matlosana municipality.

We are calling all those workers who were injured, during working hours, and those who lost their babies, due to working hours under pressure, to report their cases to the Department of Labour and COSATU demand that the workers be employed permanently by Matlosana municipality before the end of January 2010 or the strike will be intensified by the federation and its affiliates, in particular SAMWU.