Business Day
*ANC firm on labour broking, despite Cosatu 'howling'* * * *Sam Mkokeli, Business Day, Johannesburg, 14 March 2012 *THE African National Congress (ANC) says it will take the fight on labour brokers and e-tolling to the Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu) and will not be reduced to the "howling" to which it says the labour body has resorted.
After heavy criticism from unions and civic organisations in the past week, ANC leaders said they would stand by the party's decision to regulate labour brokers and not scrap them entirely.
The ANC's national working committee is said to have discussed last week's Cosatu march in detail at its regular Monday meeting and resolved to engage the union body. A meeting between the two has been pencilled in for March 26.
Among other things, it will discuss the two contentious issues of the protest action and the new tolling system, secretary-general Gwede Mantashe said yesterday.
Although the ANC sought to downplay the tension with Cosatu yesterday, insiders said the party was not amused by some statements made during the strike. ANC leaders were irked by Cosatu general secretary Zwelinzima Vavi's assertion that the new tolling system was like "economic apartheid".
Some among them were equally unimpressed by the platform given to beleaguered ANC Youth League president Julius Malema to address the strikers.
Mr Mantashe said in a statement yesterday that many of the amendments to the Labour Relations Amendment Bill agreed on at the National Economic Development and Labour Council went "beyond the issue of labour brokers".
"They deal with the protection of vulnerable workers in all categories, including casual workers, contractors, subcontractors and labour brokers, and all distortions in the labour space, amongst others," Mr Mantashe said.
The amendments dealt with the matter of labour brokers in a way that was in line with the ANC's Polokwane conference decision.
The ANC was accused of reneging on its Polokwane resolutions, especially in protecting workers and the poor, during last week's protest, at which labour leaders and their followers vented their frustration about a number of areas in which they felt the government was failing.
With Natasha Marrian [email protected] <mailto:[email protected]> *From: http://www.businessday.co.za/articles/Content.aspx?id=167331* ** ** ** -- 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] .
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