Cosatu threatens to bring W Cape to a standstill

Cosatu in the Western Cape is threatening to bring the province to a standstill in support of the clothing workers who have been on strike to press a wage claim.

Protesting that the strike is an attempt to defend then workers' right to sick leave, Tony Ehrenreich, the provincial secretary of the trade union federation, said that the executive director of the Cape Town Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Albert Schuitmaker, is clearly trying to align his organisation with policies of the ruling Democratic Alliance in order to undermine labour standards.

"The W Cape Cosatu will be the first province to consider secondary strike action against all bosses because of their support for this move to slave-labour standards in the clothing industry," Ehrenreich said on Tuesday, 29 September 2009.

"We have now submitted a notice for secondary strike action in support of the clothing workers in the W Cape. Cosatu will bring the economy of the W Cape to a standstill in support of the rights of clothing workers and against these outdated labour practices."

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