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The Federation of Unions of South Africa (FEDUSA) has warned employers not to use COVID-19 retrenchments to undermine South Africa’s Decent Work Country Programme Agenda. Workers across the globe celebrate World Decent Work today. However, millions of jobs have been lost over the past 18 months of the pandemic across the world and in South Africa , pushing the unemployment rate to a record high of 34.4% in the second quarter of 2021.

This vast reserve army of retrenched workers creates an abundant pool for employers, making workers who still have jobs vulnerable to job insecurity and oppressive working conditions. It is possible today that in order to put bread on the table, thousands of workers who lost their jobs to COVID-19 retrenchments are finding themselves in precarious employment relationships with no written contract or vital benefits such as sick leave or paid leave. It is easy for employers to treat such  desperate workers with a heavy hand.

Such a turn of events also grossly undermines the International Labour Organization’s fundamental objective of achieving decent and productive work for both women and men in conditions of freedom, equity, security and human dignity.

At the heart of the decent work agenda is the understanding that holding a job is much more than earning salary at the end of the month. A job is also a vital source of personal dignity, peace at home and peace for women and children in the community, and economic growth that in turn enables the creation of even more jobs and better lives for workers and their families.

Issued by FEDUSA