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Picture Courtesy: CapricornFM News via Twitter (X)
Most importantly, the gathering was about leaders and members interacting and finding solutions to challenges faced by workers in workplaces. Eastern Cape Provincial Chairperson of SAFTU, Andile Bloko, said that the gathering was to celebrate the workers who came before them and fought for the working conditions they are working under today, such as the 40-hour week, and it was also to look back and see what challenges the workers are facing today.
He added that the plight of workers is deteriorating, working conditions seem to have become worse, workers are being retrenched and some are having their salaries cut. He further said that workers are at the tail end in this country and the rate of unemployment continues to rise, and this is why workers must vote wisely, ensuring that the party they vote for will be able to deliver better and improved working conditions.
SAFTU calls upon all the federations and unions of workers to be united in the upcoming elections because unity is the only weapon they can use to defeat the system. “We need to come together, we need to make sure that workers are mobilized properly so that we can deal with challenges that confront us,” said Bloko. Bloko emphasized the importance of unity among federations, unions and South African citizens at large, to better deal with and confront unemployment, poverty and inequalities that continue to rise in SA and said that while workers are being exploited, the elite who are in businesses and in government are reaping the benefits of the workers’ hard labor.
Bloko expressed that workers in this country have nothing to celebrate because they are at a disadvantage, and they must be fully aware that from the 1st of June, things will change in SA. According to Bloko, when voting, workers cannot choose a better butcher among the butchers, but they must choose a party that will have their best interest at heart and workers need to check and evaluate if they have a voice in government, if they do, how far they are going and if they do not what are they going to do about that.
SATUF has not yet decided on which party they are supporting in the upcoming elections, but it hopes that workers will make a wise and correct choice by voting for a party that will do better for the working class and create more suitable and better paying jobs to alleviate unemployment and poverty.
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