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COSATU: The Free Market Foundation is motivated by pure self indulgence and insatiable greed

COSATU: The Free Market Foundation is motivated by pure self indulgence and insatiable greed

10th February 2016

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The Congress of South African Trade Unions has noted the anti worker tirade and the anachronistic analogy by the Free Market Foundation trying to justify their constitutional challenge, arguing against the extension of bargaining council agreements to non-parties.
Our message is very clear to the FMF, we will push back against their offensive and will not allow workers to be left defenceless and exposed to merciless exploitation by marauding employers. We are going to mobilise against this offensive and fight back to protect the workers.

According to the FMF bargaining councils are “private actors to whom the state cannot delegate powers of statutory regulation without violating the constitution; and, secondly, that the Labour Relations Act, by distorting the provisions of majority rule, permits a minority to coerce the majority into complying with standard sets of terms and conditions of employment”.

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If their argument were to be entertained and listened to ,then all collective bargaining agreements will become irrelevant ,because they will not binding on all employers in the sector they cover.

The neoliberal doctrinal shackles blinding the FMF have led them to attempt to both ignore and try to white wash our unfortunate history of unequal wages and exploitation. The current bargaining processes do not even dent the apartheid wage structure that remains firmly intact.

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Even in its current form, the collective bargaining system has failed to meet all its objectives. The number of workers covered by bargaining council agreements has been falling and more workers are covered by Sectoral Determinations than by bargaining council agreements.

What South Africa needs is to strengthen collective bargaining and develop policies and regulatory frameworks to promote wage equity, and aligns centralised bargaining with industrial and economic development strategies.

The FMF is motivated by pure self-indulgence and by profit maximisation and the argument that they want to create jobs is just a farce. All they want to is to crush workers’ collective strength so that the employers can reverse the hard-won gains of the workers and enslave them to a future of slave  wages and destitution. 

What workers should not forget is that DA Mayoral candidate is one of the vocal spokespersons ,and enthusiastic funders of this anti workers crusade. A vote for Herman Mashaba is a vote for anti worker policies and for monopoly capital. Our call is for all workers to ensure that they do not vote against their interests.

Down with greedy exploiters!

Down with the Free Market Foundation!

Issued by COSATU

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