[South Africa] Union will support jobs and poverty campaign

from Independent On Line

The South African Clothing and Textile Workers Union (Sactwu) on Monday called on its 110 000 members around the country to support the call by Cosatu for a national strike on Thursday.

The strike is part of the campaign by the Congress of SA Trade Unions (Cosatu) to highlight the continuing loss of jobs and mass poverty.

Sactwu general secretary Ebrahim Patel said the union also called on the public to show solidarity with some of the lowest paid workers in the manufacturing industry who will participate in the strike.

"Over the past three years, more than 62 000 clothing, textile and footwear jobs have been lost as a result of imports from China," said Patel.

"Fashion and design are glamorous but the reality of unemployment and low wages is the very opposite. Workers eke out a living on less than R100 a day and yet jobs continue to be lost through the increasing tendency of retailers to import."

Patel said clothing imports had increased by 480 percent since January 2003.

"And South Africa's trade deficit with China has grown to unsustainable levels over this period. Unfortunately the sourcing practices of the retailers are at the heart of the job losses of workers in manufacturing."

Patel said thousands of workers were expected to participate in marches and demonstrations in all major cities around the country in support of the strike on Thursday.