We mean business

[Rectron]( [Mail & Guardian Newsletter logo](#) [mg.co.za]( [The Ampersand Daily Newsletter from the M&G team](#) [Divider Strip] October 06 2020 | [View in browser]( [Divider Strip] [Facebook icon]( [Twitter icon]( [Instagram icon]( [LinkedIn icon]( Hi there, Wednesday will herald the return of a facet of South African life that has largely been absent these last few months: the strike. Labour federations Cosatu and the South African Federation of Trade Unions, together comprising nearly 3-million workers, will embark on a national stayaway, which is expected to affect a number of services across the country. With a deepening unemployment crisis as the backdrop, the issues raised by the trade union federations include the country's ailing public transport system, inadequate service delivery, the undermining of collective bargaining, and corruption. Saftu general secretary Zwelinzima Vavi told Sarah Smit that it was "scandalous" that it has [taken six months to organise any mass action](. "I hope the crisis will communicate a clear message, a very painful message: without that unity, nothing is possible ... Without the unity, you will toyi-toyi for another 26 years," he said. "As we toyi-toyi, the crisis of unemployment is getting worse. Poverty is getting worse. Inequality, corruption, environmental destruction, the pathetic levels of service delivery by the state are getting worse ... We are right at the point of a precipice. If we don't stand up and do something we may find an implosion." The South African Democratic Teachers Union is one of the organisations that has heeded the call to speak out. Bongekile Macupe reports that it has accused the state of being an "uncaring employer" for [failing to pay salary increases due two years ago](. Unions have long played a crucial role in South Africa's democracy. They were core tenets of the fight against apartheid; and the incumbent president himself was once a union leader and founder. To those that have been fortunate enough to preserve their employment or have its conditions amended during the pandemic, workers' issues can often seem distant and unrelatable. We would caution against this thinking and remind everyone that weekends, parental leave and other labour rights we take for granted didn't happen out of the goodness of capitalist hearts. Those rights we as workers enjoy today were hard won. We're all in this together, far beyond October 7. Yours in solidarity, Kiri Rupiah & Luke Feltham [Divider Strip] [UJ]( [Divider Strip] [Facebook icon]( [Twitter icon]( [Instagram icon]( [LinkedIn icon]( You are receiving this email on {EMAIL} because 1.) You're a member of "Mail & Guardian" or 2.) previously subscribed [M&G logo] 25 Owl St, Braamfontein Werf, Johannesburg, 2092 Want to be removed? No problem! [UNSUBSCRIBE]( Email support: help@media-connect.co.za - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -