The Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU) celebrates the South African Clothing and Textile Workers’ Union (SACTWU) on its 35 years of existence. The militant Affiliate’s record and indelible mark is undeniable with its continuous strife for the advancement of the workers it organises.

Since its formation on 16 September 1989, the union has been committed to putting workers’ interests first. With its understanding of the historical adverse challenges existing in the clothing and textile industry, its drive to rectify these unfavorable conditions has always been evident.

For years, workers have had to occupy deplorable factories which are unsafe and pose a danger to their wellbeing. Workers would expose themselves to these compromising buildings at ridiculous low wages, exploited, just to provide for their families. With the assistance of the introduction of progressive labour laws in a democratic South Africa, SACTWU has been unwavering in ensuring that meagre salaries and unsafe working conditions are indeed a thing of the past.

Whilst there are businesses who see it fit to ignore labour laws and unapologetically gamble with workers for profit, COSATU and its affiliate SACTWU are encouraged by the Labour Department’s response to calls of non-compliance. If there is to be a complete end to these greedy employers, COSATU stands in support of SACTWU in pushing for the constant visibility of inspectors in all provinces.

SACTWU has always stood on the side of workers.  It has been a formidable vehicle in improving the working and living conditions of thousands of clothing and textile workers. Today its members’ children are often sponsored to pursue tertiary education as part of uplifting their families and the working class. When the clothing and textile industry was decimated and bled thousands of jobs due to cheap imports, it was SACTWU that led the campaign and mobilised government and industry to put in place the necessary protections and support to stabilise and build this critical manufacturing sector. Today it is growing once again.

This Affiliate that has produced generations of renowned working-class leaders from John Zikhali to Violet Seboni and Ebrahim Patel. It epitomizes the values of the empowerment of women and it is no accident that today both its President, Susan Khumalo, and its General Secretary, Bonita Loubser, are women who have risen from the ranks of factory floors.

SACTWU has been a principled champion of buying locally produced goods as the most effective and sustainable way of saving and creating jobs, supporting local businesses and growing the economy.  It plays a key role in the industrial master plans that is showing green shoots with increasing numbers of locally produced clothes in our retail stores.  It has worked hand in glove with the South African Revenue Service to ensure importers pay their duties and to help protect fragile and emerging local economic sectors.

During COVID-19, SACTWU moved with speed to ensure its workplaces were well prepared to manage the pandemic, that workers and their families were kept safe, to assist workers to apply for the Unemployment Insurance Fund relief, to produce the masks and PPEs critical to saving lives and to coordinate a mass vaccination campaign of their sectors.

COSATU also applauds SACTWU on its committed participation and engagement at Nedlac on various pieces of legislation such as the Revenue Laws Amendment Act and the Pension Funds Amendment Act which ushered in the two-pot retirement system and the Companies’ Amendment Act which aims to elevate the war against crime and corruption, further empower the state to deal with grey listing, and most critically compel large, listed companies and State-Owned Enterprises (SOEs) to disclose their financial reports to workers and the wage gap between their highest and lowest paid directors and employees to their shareholders.

SACTWU has lived by the principles of solidarity, and as mandated by COSATU, is helping to recruit and provide a home to thousands of farm, food and other vulnerable workers.

The energy displayed at these engagements are one of many examples of SACTWU’s dedication to the struggle for the advancement of workers.  COSATU is proud of the sterling work done by SACTWU and is confident that it will continue to lead critical working-class struggles.

Phambili nge SACTWU,phambili!

Issued by COSATU

Zanele Sabela (COSATU National Spokesperson)

Mobile: 079 287 5788 / 077 600 6639

Email: zanele@cosatu.org.za