Retrenchments were a declaration of war on the poor, SA Communist Party leader Blade Nzimande said yesterday during Cosatu's march for "decent jobs" in Johannesburg yesterday. At a march in Cape Town, Public Works Minister Thulas Nxesi called for a stakeholder indaba to discuss ways of preventing a "jobs bloodbath" in the steel and mining sectors."When things are going well the bosses alone enjoy the wealth produced by the workers," said Nzimande. "But as soon as these sectors are in trouble, like now, it is the workers alone who bear the brunt through retrenchments."Retrenchments are a declaration of war on the workers and the poor."Nzimande urged workers to fight retrenchments and the use of labour brokers.He demanded that the state not allocate min ing licenc es to companies that did not have the interests of workers at heart.Nzimande called on the state to nationalise Sasol, which he said was selling petrol to South Africans at international prices."But at the very least, and as a step towards such nationalisation, we call for a windfall tax on the profits of Sasol."Now that the price of oil is down we reject that it is the workers who must now suffer."He pleaded with companies to create jobs and not focus entirely on profits."It cannot be that it is only the responsibility of the government to protect jobs, while capitalist bosses are only interested in protecting their super-profits and the obscene salaries of their executives, irrespective of economic conditions," Nzimande said.Speaking in his capacity as SA Communist Party deputy chairman, Nxesi said jobs, especially in mining and manufacturing, had to be protected.He said retrenchments, the casualisation of labour and labour brokers were a threat to "decent work"...