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The South African Federation of Trade Unions warmly congratulates its affiliate, the Food and Allied workers Union on their march to Parliament today.

The federation fully supports FAWU’s campaign against the illicit trade in counterfeit, smuggled and dumped products which are leading job losses and a huge loss of revenue to the fiscus, money which could be used for transforming our dysfunctional public health and education systems.

SAFTU further supports the marchers’ demands:
-               For the Sugar Tax not to be signed into law but be re-negotiated with FAWU, which represents a vast majority of workers in sugar-to-soft drinks
-               Amendments to the Tobacco Act Regulations to be negotiated with at a task team, which will include FAWU rather than at NEDLAC, which excludes FAWU despite representsing vast many workers in the tobacco value-chain
-               Amendments to the Liquor Bill Regulations be also taken to a task team for the same reasons as above
-               The summit on transformation and sustainability of the fishing sector to be convened for discussions on Fishing Rights in 2020
-               The Poultry Crises task team to fast-track its work as the harm on the sector continues unabated

The federation further endorses FAWU’s view on the “flawed processes of negotiations at NEDLAC, as the labour constituency (COSATU, FEDUSA and NACTU) represents virtually no workers in the above sectors and value-chains, if the despicable example of the ‘sugar tax’, now referred to as Health Promotions Levy (HPL), is anything to go by”.

SAFTU calls on all workers to rally behind FAWU’s campaign, to save jobs, recover lost revenue to the fiscus and improve the health of the nation, in particular donjon the coming marches in April to all the major supermarkets and retail chain-stores and their with protest marches and their head offices.

Issued by SAFTU