Cosatu strike

Cosatu calls for strike

National protests against Eskom hike
Mar 4, 2010 11:14 PM | By DOMINIC MAHLANGU



Cosatu is planning a national strike in protest against electricity tariff increases and the government's intention to allow independent power producers in on the action.

The trade union federation, an ally of the ANC, also expressed outrage at the news that the ruling party holds a 25% stake Hitachi Africa, the company that won a tender to supply boilers to two new multibillion-rand power stations for Eskom.

In the latest sign of a widening gap between Cosatu and President Jacob Zuma, Cosatu general secretary Zwelinzima Vavi stopped just short of accusing the head of state of implementing policies that were in conflict with the ANC's.

Speaking at a press conference yesterday following a three-day meeting of Cosatu's central executive committee, Vavi said the federation planned to embark on "strike action and street protests against increases which will devastate poor consumers, push up inflation" and lead to the loss of over 200,000 jobs.

He did not announce a date for the strike.

Cosatu's lawyers are submitting notice of the federation's intention of embarking on strike action.

Cosatu said it had the full backing of other union federations, including the Federation of Unions of SA and the National Council of Trade Unions .

During the press conference, Vavi said Zuma's announcement that independent power producers will be introduced to compete with Eskom would not solve the electricity crisis.

"We remain opposed to the privatisation of power-generating capacity and of the provision of electricity. Accordingly, we completely reject the introduction of independent power producers," Vavi said.

"Privatisation is not an answer. It will increase and not decrease the prices. It will sideline those who want access to electricity, and will make the current price increases look like a Sunday-school picnic. We are going to the streets on this matter."

Vavi said the labour federation was concerned about recent reports that the ANC's investment arm, Chancellor House, had a 25% stake in Hitachi Africa.

"The problem with this is that the ANC will not be able to ward off genuine concerns that it might have decided to accept the extraordinarily high tariffs imposed on the poor and industry. because it stands to benefit. If it is true that the ANC company has invested in Eskom, then God help us all," he said.

The Cosatu leader went on to accuse Zuma of "smuggling" privatisation into his state of the nation speech last month, saying it had not been agreed to by the ANC and its alliance partners.

"To the best of our recollection, there is no ANC policy calling for the introduction of private investors in power generation. Where was this decision taken? To us, this, together with the introduction of the wage subsidies for the youth, are examples of conservative and pro-business bureaucratic manipulation to sidestep democratic processes," Vavi said.

"This is how democratic processes get undermined," he added.

In his state of the nation speech, Zuma announced that the government will offer incentives to businesses for hiring young, inexperienced people.

But Cosatu is vehemently opposed to this, saying it would lead to the "super-exploitation" of the young by employers.

"This threatens to introduce a third tier of workers who will be employed on the basis of wage subsidies [paid] to their employers, which Cosatu is very worried about," he said.

"This idea was thrown out by the national general council in 2005 and thus is definitely not ANC policy. This raises a question - who develops government policy if a roundly rejected policy finds itself back on the agenda through unilateral government announcements?

"Even Jabu Moleketi [the former deputy finance minister] and Phumzile Mlambo-Nguka [former deputy president] failed in their attempts to introduce this policy."

Cosatu played a central role in securing the presidency for Zuma. But recent utterances by its leaders, as well as yesterday's decision to call a national strike, are further indications of the federation's unhappiness with Zuma's leadership.

Vavi yesterday said Cosatu wanted a meeting with the ANC at which its objections would be explained.

Zuma's conflict with Cosatu is not limited to labour and economic policy issues. Despite the president stating his opposition to Cosatu's call for a "lifestyle audit" of all Cabinet ministers and prominent politicians, Vavi said Cosatu would go ahead with its campaign because it had "overwhelming [public] support".

He refuted claims that the call for auditing suggested "that all Cabinet ministers and senior government officials are suspects", or that it reinforced racial stereotypes "that all wealthy blacks" should be investigated for corruption.

"The call is directed to all Cabinet ministers and senior public officials, whether they are black or white," he said.

He also rejected an ANC Youth League charge that Cosatu's call was part of "a campaign to target political opponents". The federation and youth league president Julius Malema are seen as part of opposing factions within the ruling party, battling for political supremacy.

Though the ANC Youth League has stated that it wants Deputy Police Minister Fikile Mbalula to replace ANC secretary-general Gwede Mantashe, Cosatu is opposed to this.

Yesterday, Vavi also added his voice to those who have questioned the silence of Zuma and the ANC national executive committee about the Youth League's sustained public attacks on Mantashe.

Vavi said Cosatu was "aware of the mobilisation" by those "informed by nothing else but to access power for a narrow accumulation agenda", and warned that this would "plunge the ANC into unprecedented crisis".

Though Vavi did not mention Malema by name, it was clear that the federation had its sights on him when it discussed "lifestyle audits" at its central executive committee meeting.

Vavi said the committee expressed concern over reports that Malema's company, SGL Engineering Projects, delivered shoddy workmanship on jobs for which it was awarded tenders.
http://www.timeslive.co.za/local/article338965.ece

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