YCL+Gauteng+Press+Statement




 * PRESS STATEMENT**


 * From: The Young Communist League of S.A. / Gauteng Province**


 * Send: Wednesday, May 25, 2005**


 * To: The News Editor**


 * Subject: YCL Protest March for Quality and Permanent Jobs for Youth**

We, the Young Communist League of S.A. / Gauteng Province, are set to take to the streets of the city of Johannesburg on Saturday morning, May 28, 2005, from 09h00 – 11h00. We will be protesting against the effects of casualisation and temporary jobs which most acutely affect young workers.

The march is also meant to bolster the COSATU campaign against casualisation and job losses which are endemic in the wholesale and retail and clothing and textile sectors.

Hence, the march is targeted against retailers (in both the wholesale and retail and the clothing and textile sectors), and the Department of Labour.

The protest march will be the first phase of a month-long campaign for permanent and quality jobs for young people. Other parts of our campaign will illustrate the affects that low quality jobs have on young female workers, and the impact on families affected by HIV/AIDS. This is especially in the case of poorer quintiles, who rely heavily on one income-earner. The campaign will also assess the impact of learnerships on youth employment.


 * What are our key concerns?**


 * Casual and temporary jobs are considered as full or adequate employment when in actual fact they are amongst the lowest quality jobs.
 * Young female workers bear the brunt of casual and temporary work.
 * Private companies have taken advantage of the increasing liberalisation of the S.A. economy by resorting to casualisation and temporary employment contracts. This has allowed them to dodge labour costs by avoiding responsibility for the most basic worker benefits such as skills training, living wages, job security, worker representation and collective bargaining, etc.
 * Retail companies often expect casuals and temporary workers to work unsocial hours and thus exposing them to all kinds of safety risks.
 * Stats S.A. counts any income-earning activity, no matter how poverty stricken or unstable, as informal employment.
 * Most informal jobs created are a form of concealed unemployment, yet are usually the only options available to millions of unemployed people.
 * There is no regulation of pay for atypical jobs in the informal economy - such as casual and temporary jobs - therefore the minimum wage of informal workers are below the minimum wage rates.


 * What are our demands?**


 * We demand that jobs be defined according to their quality and permanency.
 * We demand permanent and quality jobs for youth which will actually contribute to improving the quality of their lives and not just enable them to survive another day to serve their bosses.
 * We call on the Department of Labour, through structures such as Nedlac, to develop policies and programmes with time frames, to address the eradication of casual labour in all its devious forms.
 * We demand training for casual and part-time workers.
 * We call on the DoL to enforce existing legislation and develop legislation that protects workers against unfair abuse suffered under casual and all other atypical forms of work.

On the basis of these demands, we will mobilise all young employed and unemployed workers in our province to join the COSATU-led Save Jobs Coalition.


 * Conclusion**

The lot of the working class and the poor people is getting worse and it is our contention that it is only through State intervention and the creation of real, quality and permanent jobs that this situation can be rectified and must be rectified. We aim to put pressure on the private sector during our campaign to consider the lives of people instead of just focusing on making profits irrespective of the squalor that the majority of black people in our country continue to live under.


 * For and On Behalf of the YCLSA / Gauteng Province**


 * Nkosiphendule Kolisile Ibrahim Steyn**
 * YCLSA Gauteng Convenor YCLSA Greater JHB District Secretary**


 * 011 339 3621 011 328 4215**
 * 082 939 4035 083 285 7079**
 * nkosiphendule@sacp.org.za** **ibrahim@nedlac.org.za**