Unions march against national minimum wage

The South African Federation of Trade Unions (Saftu) along with the National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa (Numsa) will march to Parliament today to “defend the workers’ right to strike” and “fight for a living wage”.

Speaking on Radio 702 recently, Saftu general secretary Zwelinzima Vavi urged members of parliament to engage workers on the proposed national minimum wage to determine whether the proposed R20 per hour would be sufficient.

The national minimum wage was meant to become law by May 1, but that has since been delayed.

The national minimum wage envisages that farmworkers and domestic workers get a rate of R18 an hour and R15 an hour respectively and that this is raised to R20 an hour within two years of implementation.

The unions are also opposed to the implementation of amendments to the Labour Relations Act that would require unions to ballot its members on strike action.

“We are marching to the Western Cape to parliament on the 12th of April to call for a national general strike and we are shutting down everything in the economy,” Vavi said during the radio interview over a week ago.

ALSO READ: Vavi slams proposed R20 per hour national minimum wage

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