Cosatu wants labour law enforced

The Congress of SA Trade Union (Cosatu) in the North West has called on government to enforce all labour laws.

"The government must enforce all labour laws including the Employment Equity Act provisions that requires all employers to report on their disproportionate income differentials at all wage levels and submit plans for their progressive reductions," Cosatu provincial secretary Solly Phetoe said on Thursday.

During public hearings in the North West by the National Assembly's labour portfolio committee this week on a national minimum wage, Cosatu in the province also submitted that "vulnerable workers" be paid between R5500 and R7000 a month.

"As the federation of the poor working class we submitted that under the nine sectoral determinations that we have in the country none of that sectoral determinations is taking those workers out of poverty -- workers are still trapped under poverty, inequalities, and the unemployment which is increasing daily," he said.

Cosatu was happy that the provincial public hearing went well and that most workers in all sectors agreed with Cosatu that the majority of workers could not get out of poverty.

The public hearings were held in Klerksdorp on Tuesday and in Rustenburg on Wednesday.

During the hearings Cosatu defined "vulnerable" workers who should earn between R5500 and R7000 as domestic workers, farm workers, security industry workers, those working in the hospitality industry, and for wholesalers and retailers.

They also included taxi drivers and taxi administrators, taxi marshals, contractors and cleaning and health workers.

For mineworkers the federation submitted R8500 for surface work and R9500 for underground work.

Phetoe said the minimum wage of R1618 for domestic workers required by the domestic sectoral determination was too little for a domestic worker with a family of four.

Committee chairwoman Lumka Yengeni said the input from mineworkers in both Klerksdorp and Rustenburg was crucial and would be included in the committee's final report.

"All the processes happening around the national minimum wage at [the] National Economic Development and Labour Council (Nedlac) will eventually come to the portfolio committee for consideration," she said.

"The parliamentary process and the Nedlac process as led by the Deputy President [Cyril Ramaphosa] are not mutually exclusive. Both processes will inform whatever decision the committee arrives at."

She also announced that the Gauteng and Free State legs of the public hearings had been postponed to a later date because members of the committee had to attend a sitting of Parliament on Thursday.

The Gauteng public hearing was scheduled to be held in Johannesburg on Thursday and in the Free State the hearing was planned for Friday in Bloemfontein.