SPEAKING NOTES FOR ADDRESS DELIVERED BY THE SECRETARY-GENERAL OF THE AFRICAN NATIONAL CONGRESS, COMRADE GWEDE MANTASHE, AT THE SATAWU CEC, November 27 2013
ADVANCE THE ORGANISATIONAL AND POLITICAL GAINS FOR THE EMANCIPATION OF THE WORKING CLASS
Programme Director
Comrades,
When we talk about advancing we are assuming that there are gains that have been made which must be taken to a higher level. As a starting point we must quantify the gains made by the working class since our freedom. Our labour laws are progressive and protect workers to a great degree. The first gain made was the recognition of workers as employees and granting them the right to organise and join unions. Those rights guaranteed in the democratic constitution give workers the right to bargain and engage.
Safety in the working place is covered by law and employers do not have the right to retrench as they like, within the confines of the law. Many employers complain that they do not have the right to hire and fire with ease. The right to bargain talks to workers participating in the setting of wages and salary rates in their respective sectors. It is this right to organise in a secure environment that has helped us build a strong trade union movement. It is the trade union movement that constitutes the organised working class. It is these rights that the organised working class is beginning to take for granted.