The Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu) has assured workers that it will strive to defend their gains as coalition talks and efforts to form a national unity government continue. Politics and reflection on the general election were at the forefront of discussions at the NUM's three-day policy conference that ended in Boksburg, east of Johannesburg.
Cosatu will meet with the ANC's central executive committee to give its input on the composition of the new government as part of a tripartite coalition. NUM is one of the trade unions under Cosatu. Members of the tripartite coalition, which includes Cosatu, the SACP and the ANC, met in Gauteng on Wednesday.
This came as workers attending the NUM policy conference stepped up their calls for policy certainty and protection of the working class in the new government that was soon to be formed. The NUM brought together more than 500 trade union leaders from across the country for its national policy conference, which is held every two years between parliaments.
The theme was to commemorate 41 years of workers' uninterrupted revolutionary struggle. Unions say they are concerned that the current political situation could threaten those gains.
But NUM's parent organisation Cosatu has sought to allay fears, saying it will meet with the ANC and be among the parties drafting a manifesto for the new government.
“Unfortunately, we did not achieve what we wanted to achieve in terms of 50+1 percent. In the current political situation we find ourselves in, the federation's role is to continue to defend workers' interests. Whatever is agreed at parliamentary level or tomorrow, and this is what we have said to the ANC, we will not tolerate a compromised position on workers' rights. What we are grateful for is that Cosatu, SACP and Sanco will form part of the negotiating team going forward in terms of drafting a letter of intent and a statement of intent,” says Cosatu's Solly Petoo.
Video: NUM Conference – Final day focused on politics
The union held various breakout sessions on the final day of the conference, focusing on examining a range of issues affecting workers, including the looming dual retirement scheme, the implementation of national health insurance, unemployment and a just energy transition.
The union says its representatives are in talks to break the current impasse in reinstating sacked workers at the Sibanye-Stillwater mine. The union also resolved to extend the term of office of officials from three to five years. The union has also declared 2025 a recruitment year in an effort to increase membership.
Cosatu is looking back at past elections and aims to paint a vision for Labour's future with an eye towards a new government at the central electoral committee meeting on Tuesday, while the NUM will table a resolution in parliament next year, where its planned policies are expected to be adopted.
Video: NUM Conference – Conference taking place in Boksburg