NUMSA Supports Truck Drivers Strike!

The National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa (Numsa) supports the ongoing truck drivers strike as organised by our sister union, the South African Transport and Allied Workers Union (Satawu), for a living wage and sustainable livelihoods for workers.

This strike should be located and understood within the broader struggles waged by workers for equal distribution of income at the point of production. The workers and the poor are the hardest hit by high cost of living in South Africa as permeated by high cost of transport, schooling, basic food and escalating unemployment rate amongst working class households.

These demands are consistent with the electoral commitments of the ANC government of creating decent work and building sustainable livelihoods. We call on the striking workers to intensify their action geared to lower the cost of living, as opposed to lowering cost of doing business.

This ongoing strike action should also be about rejecting wage-moderation as proposed in the New Growth Path (NGP).

The intimidation or forceful force unleashed by the men and women in blue uniforms should not defocus the workers from their immediate struggles of better wages and improved conditions of employment. The police are not a bargaining chamber and they should not use forceful means to mitigate over industrial disputes between workers and the exploiters.

The actions by the police are a worse form of lumpenism, since they are workers too and come from the very same poor communities as these striking workers, and affected by the high cost of living.

We call on the transport ruling oligarchy to concede to the legitimate demands of workers.

Contact:

Castro Ngobese, National Spokesperson – 073 299 1595