Issue # 1401      4 March 2009

COSATU welcomes plan for South Africa’s response to the crisis

The Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU) welcomes and supports the framework plan, agreed by government, business, labour and community organisations at the Joint Presidential Working Group, as South Africa’s response to the international economic crisis.

This is a most significant example, probably unique in the world, of social partners coming together jointly to produce a strategy to deal with the impact of the crisis and protect jobs and livelihoods. As Anglo American non-executive director, Bobby Godsell, said: “The agreement was made in a new spirit of shared sacrifice to save jobs, homes and businesses”.

A feature of the plan is its emphasis on avoiding the risk of “unfairly placing the burden of the downturn on the poor and the vulnerable”, and the need to protect low-income workers the unemployed and vulnerable groups, who, it rightly says, can lose much through even a relatively brief economic shock.

COSATU applauds the commitment that “retaining and increasing employment will be at the centre of our coordination and efforts in the period ahead”, and in particular the commitment “to increase the level of employment as well as improve the quality of jobs”.

We warmly welcome the undertaking from organised business and its affiliates to urge and encourage CEOs of companies to do everything in their power to avoid retrenchments as a result of the global economic crisis, and to instead invest in their people and modernise their productive capacity in order to avoid job losses and in anticipation of the opportunities that will emerge after the global economic recovery.

We call upon the business leaders who signed the agreement to convince all their CEOs to abide by the letter and spirit of this plan.

Back to index page

Next article — Britian admits terror suspects given to US