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=Cosatu draws new battle lines=

News 24 & City Press 29/05/2005 08:37 - (SA)

 * Makhudu Sefara**

Johannesburg - Cosatu this week drew new battle lines with the ANC when it declared a season of strikes aimed at stopping the ANC from adopting "anti-worker" policies that watered down worker gains.

This was in reaction to wide-ranging proposed changes contained in the ANC's national general council discussion documents, which suggest that labour market inflexibility is largely responsible for the slow pace of employment generation.

Cosatu secretary-general Zwelinzima Vavi announced a national strike on June 27 - two days before the start of the ANC's national general council meeting.

Aubrey Matshiqi, a political analyst, said on Saturday the timing of the strike, itself a demonstration of Cosatu's power within the tripartite alliance, was an unequivocal statement that workers rejected the proposals.

Vavi said the ANC discussion documents showed that there were "elements" in the ANC which were determined to "roll back workers' gains" by pursuing anti-worker policies.

"We are determined to fight the proposals with everything in our power," declared Vavi.

A Cosatu statement said it noted that the current proposals could "impose considerable political costs on the democratic movement (the ANC), while the economic benefits will be non-existent".

The ANC discussion documents identified a number of areas that, possibly, are responsible for the country's sluggish job-creation pace. They argue that the dichotomy between the first and second economy, with their different characteristics, meant the same laws would have different consequences for both.


 * 'Smacked of apartheid thinking'**

While some laws were good for the first, they could be bad for the second. The ANC suggested a "splitting (of) the labour market" on the basis of, among other things, geographic area, as is the case in China - which has economic growth of 9.5% while South Africa has economic growth of 3%.

The party also proposes a relaxing of laws for young employees, which would mean that they "fall outside of the collective bargaining and minimum wage arrangements and it's easier to dismiss people for non-performance". Cosatu last week was upset and said the proposals smacked of apartheid thinking.

"Separate labour laws for different groups will just entrench exclusion and inequality. Cosatu will not let workers be pushed back into conditions where their rights depend on where they are from, their age, or the size of their employer."

In contrast, said the giant labour federation, the aim of the alliance had always been a single, integrated economy, with equal rights for all.


 * From: http://www.news24.com/News24/South_Africa/Politics/0,,2-7-12_1712892,00.html