Affiliated to Fedusa LABOUR REPORT www.untu.co.za pride • unity • trust QUARTER 2 OF 2019 PAGE 4 PAGE 11 PAGE 12 PAGE 16 SHOCKING REVELATIONS LIMITED PROGRESS FOR HISTORIC STRIKE SUN, SEA & SERENITY AT ZONDO COMMISSION WOMEN IN THE WORKPLACE FOR RAIL SAFETY AT UNTU PALMS RESORT Get ready! 4IR is changing and reshaping practically everything that human beings do Fourth Industrial Revolution magine a world of automated trains 40% of the world’s wealth. being used to transport goods and The impact of global climate change is commuters and drones and robots increasingly being felt in South Africa with used to do engineering work and to the destabilising effects of higher surface inspect thousands of kilometres of temperatures, crop losses, drought, demo- Irailway infrastructure. This is the reality graphic shifts and hunger. of the Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR) The International Labour Organisation workers globally are faced with where (ILO) identified unique challenges for South robots can move faster and with greater Africa considering that the country remains precision than its human counterparts, making one of the most unequal societies in the it a low-risk investment for employers. world. Much of this inequality is structural More than 1.4 million industrial robots and is perpetuated due to wage differentials are already in use in industries around with unacceptably high levels of unemploy- the world according to the International ment which burdens especially the youth. Federation of Robotics (IFR). On the other hand, the country ranks It is believed that the 4IR will result in among the best in the world when it comes technological, economic, social, political, to scientific research and innovation. There business, moral and aesthetic disruption. is no reason why the country can’t take South African’s future development will the lead in innovation and producing new therefore depend on how fast it masters technologies for the 4IR. the technologies of the 4IR. According to the ILO, South Africa President Cyril Ramaphosa said countries needs all hands on the deck – Govern- that do not anticipate and adapt to the the way we learn, the way we work and and Labour Council (Nedlac) released a ment, private sector, labour, civil society, changes of the 4IR will be left behind and it is also having an impact on the way we report titled Futures of work in South Africa religious society and other formations not find themselves less competitive as the 4IR govern and the way we do business,” he said. in March in which it considered the 4IR’s to miss out on the new 4IR opportunities. is changing and reshaping practically every- According to him South Africa needs impact on poverty, unemployment and As Labour we will need new skills, thing that human beings do. to move with greater focus and urgency to inequality in South Africa. new curriculums and a new mind shift to “It is changing the way we live, the way develop the skills, human capital, institutions According to the report life-long grab on to the future of work. Currently we interface with each other, the way we and strategies that are required to seize the learning is key to your survival in any work- the bulk of people of working age in our make things, the way we use the resources advantages of this technological change. place. Currently less than 0.5% of the country have completed less than 12 years in the world, the way we communicate, The National Economic Development world’s adult population controls some of schooling. Goodbye to a dear UNTU colleague and friend t is with a sad heart that the em- Various staff members said they will ployees and members of UNTU had remember Pieter for his exceptional Ito say goodbye to Deputy General ability to remain calm and focussed Secretary Pieter Greyling (65) who re- even faced with the most difficult of tired at the end of May after serving the challenges, never losing his temper and Union for twelve years. never complaining about whatever tough According to Steve Harris, General situations life threw at him. Secretary of UNTU, the Union realises “I leave UNTU after a combined that the time has come for Pieter to service period with Transnet/SAA of 47 spend time with his wife, Debbie, and Steve Harris with Pieter Greyling, retired Deputy General years and six months and with no regrets. children and to enjoy his many hobbies Secretary of UNTU, his wife, Debbie, and his son, Pieter. I look back over a career of working in without worrying about the interest of the Human Resources Department to the UNTU members and its staff first. membership but also to the staff of the we know at UNTU you will always be the position of Deputy General Secretary “We will miss your wisdom, Union who you represented as their just a phone call away, prepared to share at UNTU with fond memories during knowledgeable approach, kindness shop steward for several years. your wise words with us when we need hard times that were fortunately largely and expertise dearly, not only to our “It is never easy to say goodbye. But them,” Harris said. overshadowed by good times,” he said. PRESIDENT SAYS Wyndham Evans Exco members on the move Service delivery will remain our focus; we will not be distracted NTU members, it is with Wyndham great appreciation and Evans respect for your loyalty that I would like to thank each UNTU President Wyndham Evans and Wielligh Meyer, Executive Council Member, of you from the bottom of visited UNTU members in Tzaneen. Umy heart. As your President I am humbled by the trust given and confidence shown in my leadership of the most progressive Union in the transport sector. It has been a rough few months at the steer of our multi-racial, diverse and non- political affiliated Union. On the one hand our membership office had to do monthly verification of membership exercises with Numsa refusing to accept that with a membership of less than 2% they don’t have sufficient representation in Transnet or in Prasa to be recognised. rumours about UNTU did not even Wyndham Evans, President of UNTU, and Executive Council Members Fasani Mabaso At the same time individual bother to mention that SATAWU was and Wielligh Meyer, visited UNTU members in Danskraal. opportunists at our rival union, SATAWU, allegedly used to launder R65 million in decided to target the colour of the skin of pensions that was allegedly plundered some of our Executive Council members from impoverished orphans of deceased to save their own union from losing its mine workers. recognition in the Transnet Bargaining On top of this, UNTU had to approach Council due to its ailing membership. the Registrar of Labour to postpone In one incident photographs were our Congress with a year due to several taken from a laptop screen of a letter I non-functional branches. The culprits wrote to the members of the Exco and did not take the news well. Excellent our Full-time Trade Union Representatives service delivery to our members are non- to remind them not to be distracted, but negotiable. to stay focused on our core responsibility: All of this created a perfect storm to service delivery to 37 000 members at be used against your proud Union. several entities. With some members they succeeded. These photographs where shared We don’t mind. UNTU will welcome on the extremely popular Transnet them back after they have been employees’ Facebook group, Mjanji, with disillusioned. populist comments being made that For the rest of our loyal members, I National Organiser Maria Chonco and Obert Mudalahothe joined forces with UNTU is afraid. thank you. I have the privilege to continue representatives from TransAfrica to recruit new members in Ogies and Witbank. The same individuals spreading the serving you. COMMENT Steve Harris Let’s stand together to bring the President to the table NTU is calling on all South Afri- Agency of South Africa (Prasa) is faced the railway infrastructure. It is after all Steve cans to participate in the planned with in addressing the challenges expe- funded with taxpayer’s money. Harris Unational strike on 26 July to bring rienced by its employees, our members, Currently the SAPS ignore the pleas the country to a standstill. daily. of the poorest of the poor, saying they It is time for all South Africans to The facts presented to the Nation- are not security guards. The SAPS have take a stand and embark on a protected al Economic Development and Labour forgotten their constitutional mandate: to strike action to demand that Government Council (Nedlac) by the various stake- prevent, combat and investigate crime, provide workers with a safe and reliable holders on behalf of Government, indi- maintain public order, protect and secure passenger rail service. cated that we are fighting a losing battle if the inhabitants of the Republic and their Only when all workers can depend President Cyril Ramaphosa himself does property, and uphold the Constitution and on passenger trains to travel to and from not come to the table to find a sustainable enforce the law. work, will South Africa make strides in solution. Only the President can deploy the alleviating the country’s unemployment The turnaround strategies presented South African National Defence Force rate that has increased with 0.5% to 27,6% by the Department of Transport and Prasa (SANDF) to step up and safeguard this in the first three months of this year. with the guidance from the Railway Safety critical national asset where the police Over the past three years UNTU has Regulator (RSR) will be meaningless if have failed us.
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