Friday, September 14, 2018

NEHAWU Statement on the Presidential Jobs Summit
13 September 2018

The National Education, Health and Allied Workers' Union [NEHAWU] is deeply dismayed and disappointed by the lack of progress in the working groups convened at NEDLAC to prepare for a Presidential Jobs.

Business and Government posture in these negotiations is deplorable, pathetic and lacks seriousness, commitment and much needed resolve to tackle persistent high levels of social inequality, poverty, unemployment and deindustrialization of the South African economy.

The working groups set out to prepare for the jobs summit have been meeting for the past three months, and there has been little progress to register due to the lack consensus and commitment on the most far reaching issues, that have a potential to deliver on decent jobs.

Big conglomerates are refusing to invest and create decent jobs in strategic sectors of the economy, they are forever on investments strikes, are retrenching workers in the mining, manufacturing, construction and other sectors of the economy, are not even prepared to engage in any meaningful discussion on the moratorium on retrenchment to save existing jobs.

Government is planning to retrench 30 000 or more workers in the public service and is not prepared to fill critical vacant posts, there is not even an attempt to deal with these austerity measures and cutbacks which are weakening the public service, and the quest to build a capable developmental state has been relegated to the backburner.

Both Government and Business are reluctant and are showing disdain in discussing far reaching macro-economic, industrial, trade and social policies that can take the country away from the current crisis we are confronted with. Business continues to shift goal posts and has not tabled any proposals on local procurement to induce aggregate demand in the economy.

The Presidential Summit, which has been convened to deal with the job blood bath, deindustrialization and inclusive growth is failing to meet its objective, business and government are sabotaging it from within, through lack of commitment to engage on the far reaching changes that must be made on the economic policy front, and the structural changes that must be made in the economy. We are in three months of these working groups and government has not tabled any stimulus.

The National Education, Health and Allied Workers' Union will be tabling before COSATU congress a resolution for labour to withdraw from the summit if the current situation persists.

Issued by NEHAWU Secretariat

Zola Saphetha (General Secretary) at 082 558 5968; December Mavuso (Deputy General Secretary) at 082 558 5969; Khaya Xaba (NEHAWU Media Liaison Officer) at 082 455 2500 or email: khaya@nehawu.org.za Visit NEHAWU website: www.nehawu.org.za

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