Durban - Two of the biggest trade union federations, Cosatu and the SA Federation of Trade Unions (Saftu), plan to meet soon to discuss the possibility of a joint national shutdown next week.
Both trade union federations had initially planned separate national protests to take place on Wednesday, August 24.
The trade union federations have cited the rising cost of living, load shedding, high fuel prices and unemployment as the reasons for the national shutdown.
Cosatu national spokesperson Sizwe Pamla said it was issuing a call to all workers to join the national strike next week.
“The intention of the strike is to demand urgent action from
policymakers and decision-makers to take drastic steps to avoid an economic collapse, as it is threatening the lives of millions of workers and the poor.”
Pamla added that this was a legally protected strike aimed at piling pressure on both government and the private sector to fix the economic mess that the country finds
itself in.
“At present, the lives of the working class and the working poor have become one long emergency, and the Covid-19 pandemic has only made things worse. The growing frustration in the country is mainly being fuelled by policies that favour the elite and that are coloured by an animus towards the poor.”
Palma said that South Africans could not continue to watch their children go hungry and their loved ones suffer and die because they could not get proper medical care.
He added that they would meet Saftu regarding combining their national strike actions.
Saftu in a statement said their list of grievances included the rise in the cost of a basic food basket by 14.29% since June 2021, the increase in electricity tariffs by a combined 16.53% in 2022 and the fuel price
hikes.
The federation said that to curb the rising inflation rate, the South African Reserve Bank had increased interest rates to 4.75%, adding more woes for indebted consumers.
Saftu added that they would campaign against job losses.