The Congress of South African Trade Unions has today, 16 April 2009, sent the following letter to President Kgalema Motlanthe.
The Honourable Comrade Kgalema Motlanthe President of the Republic of South Africa Dear Comrade President Kgalema Defend workers' right to vote I am writing to appeal to you to declare that Election Day, Wednesday 22 April 2009, should be a non-trading public holiday, on which no workers can be obliged to report for work. The right to vote is the foundation of our democracy. Every other constitutional human right hinges on the people being able make their mark on the ballot paper to decide who will govern them for the next five years. Every South African citizen without exception must therefore be able freely to exercise that fundamental right. No workers must be denied the right to vote because their employers force them to work on Election Day. COSATU applauds the decision by Transnet Port Terminals to close all its ports on Election Day in order to give employees the opportunity to cast their votes. COSATU is alarmed however that one of its affiliates, SACCAWU, has had to write to Shoprite Checkers, expressing concern that they, and other companies in the retail sector, have scheduled staff to work on 22 April. SACCAWU rightly says, and COSATU agrees, that "We cannot tolerate a situation where workers within the sector are regarded as second class citizens under this democratic dispensation." Workers who are genuinely employed in essential emergency services must be given sufficient time off to reach their polling station, but all other workers must be given a public holiday, without any fear of disciplinary action being taken against them. A Presidential statement that 22 April is a non-trading public holiday will help greatly to get the message across. Yours comradely Zwelinzima Vavi General Secretary Patrick Craven (National Spokesperson) Congress of South African Trade Unions 1-5 Leyds Cnr Biccard Streets Braamfontein, 2017 P.O. Box 1019 Johannesburg, 2000 SOUTH AFRICA Tel: +27 11 339-4911/24 Fax: +27 11 339-5080/6940/ 086 603 9667 Cell: 0828217456 E-Mail: [email protected] --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You are subscribed. This footer can help you. Please POST your comments to [email protected] or reply to this message. You can visit the group WEB SITE at http://groups.google.com/group/yclsa-eom-forum for different delivery options, pages, files and membership. To UNSUBSCRIBE, please email [email protected] . You don't have to put anything in the "Subject:" field. You don't have to put anything in the message part. All you have to do is to send an e-mail to this address (repeat): [email protected] . -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
