Maravi

S/Africa union warns of strikes over monetary policy

S/Africa union warns of strikes over monetary policy
Written by Alison Raymond and Michael Georgy
Tuesday, June 02, 2009 3:47:24 PM

JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - A major South African trade union on Monday threatened mass strikes over monetary policy after the ruling ANC cautioned that labour unrest could deepen the country's first recession in 17 years.

The warning from metal workers came two days before newly elected President Jacob Zuma gives his first state of the union address expected to spell out his plans to tackle poverty, crime and other pressing problems in troubling economic times.

"If matters are not resolved we will have mass rolling action," National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa General-Secretary Irvin Jim told a news conference.

While one of Zuma's biggest tests is how he handles investors, he must also deal with the trade unions which helped his rise after years of crises, corruption cases and ANC power struggles that he says nearly ruined him.

Markets fear Zuma will bow to pressure from increasingly assertive labour allies demanding more government spending and an economic shift to the left. He has promised continuity.

ANC spokeswoman Jessie Duarte urged unions to be patient.

"You have to be singing with the same voice on this one because this new administration has walked straight into a recession. And it has to balance recessionary concerns with worker demands," she told South Africa's eTV.

"What will have to happen is an understanding that during a recessionary time there is a slight difference. That we might as a ruling party have to mediate and talk about all of us taking responsibility that the recession doesn't deepen."

NUMSA, which says it has more than 260,000 members and is one of the three biggest unions in South Africa, staged a protest at the Reserve Bank last month to demand a deep interest rate cut. Jim said at the news conference that "we will be at all" the meetings of the bank's Monetary Policy Committee.

"We wish to condemn in the strongest terms the decision by the governor of the Reserve Bank of South Africa to refuse to accept a petition from NUMSA on Wednesday the 27th of May 2009. We find this act arrogant and unacceptable...," said Jim.

"We are warning him we have a battle on our hands".

Labour was quick to push its agenda after Zuma's May 9 inauguration.

The powerful COSATU trade union federation, which says it has 1.8 million paid-up members, nearly blocked one of the biggest share listings in Africa's biggest economy and threatened a public service strike over a 2007 wage deal.

NUMSA has complained of the "capitalist crisis under way". It heavily criticised Reserve Bank Governor Tito Mboweni, who is respected by markets for more transparent monetary policy and efforts to keep inflation in check.

"We do not believe Tito is the Father Christmas of this country. The interest rate cuts are not (enough)."

In his address, Zuma is expected to explain that the government may take longer to deliver on its promises because it was constrained by the recession, said Duarte.

The economy has been hard hit by global woes, which have demand for South Africa's minerals and manufactured goods.

Nevertheless, Zuma faces mounting pressure to deliver on pledges to ease corruption, one of the world's highest rates of violent crime, and an AIDS epidemic, and create jobs.

Labels: NEOLIBERALISM, SOUTH AFRICA, STRIKE

posted by MrK @ 2:50 PM