The National Education, Health and Allied Workers’ Union [NEHAWU] is mobilising for its National Day of Action to take place on the 3rd September 2020 as part of its commitment to defend and protect its members and workers against COVID-19.
NEHAWU together with its federation, the Congress of South African Trade Unions [COSATU], the South African Communist Party [SACP], the South African Students Congress [SASCO], the Young Communist League of South Africa [YCLSA], the South African Union of Students [SAUS] and Congress of South African Students [COSAS] have been mobilising all their members and workers towards the success of the National Day of Action. The National Day of Action will be in the form of demonstrations which will be directed to the Presidency at the Union Buildings, National Parliament and the nine offices of the Premiers in provinces.
Preparations are at an advanced stage and we want to confirm our state of readiness for the success of the programme which health and safety regulations and protocols will be observed including social distancing and the wearing of Personal Protective Equipment [PPEs] such as masks and sanitizers to ensure the safety of all participants.
Memorandums clearly explaining our demands shall be submitted to the government with ultimatum of five days to respond positively and favourable to the demands. Failure to respond positively will unfortunately leave us with no option but to withdraw our labour power in all the sectors that NEHAWU organises as from the 10th September 2020.
Our demands are as follows:
· The full compliance of the OHS Act by all workplaces including ensuring that risk assessments and infections control and prevention measures are put in place and the immediate establishment of OHS committees in all workplaces. The Occupational Health and Safety Act must be implemented in full to protect workers.
· Infected workers must return to work only on the following conditions: They have completed the mandatory 10 days of self-isolation, they have undergone a medical evaluation confirming fitness to work if they have had a moderate or severe illness, they strictly adhere to personal hygiene, wearing of masks and social distancing. Managers at the institutional level must closely monitor symptoms of such workers returning to work. Furthermore, we call on the NDOH to issue a circular, explicitly prohibiting managers from preventing workers to go on quarantine if they believe they have been exposed, whether at home or at the workplace. The circular must explicitly prohibit managers from issuing or communicating any kind of threats or intimidating notices or letters to workers in such a way that they are forced to work when they have been diagnosed COVID-19 positive but without symptoms or when they have been in contact with individuals diagnosed COVID-19 positive.
· We call on the NDOH to mandate the daily screening of healthcare workers and that it must roll-out a national testing programme of None-Communicable Diseases, as many of the frontline workers actually live with such underlying diseases without being aware, which causes complications and deaths when such NCDs are only discovered at a later stage.
· We call on the Department of Health to engage with the Health Professions Council of South Africa [HPCSA] to expedite the applications and to review the postponed arrangements for the board exams for the foreign-trained doctors and other healthcare workers, whether South African or not. Similarly, we call on the South African Nursing Council [SANC] to review its decision on the registration of the foreign-trained nurses.
· We call on the government to abandon the current decentralised and fragmented approach in the procurement of PPEs, as determined by the Guidelines on the Management of the Coronavirus (COVID-19) in the Public Service issued by the Department of Public Service and Administration.
· We demand that the NDOH must review the process of reporting on COVID-19 fatalities in all institutions to ensure adherence with uniform standards as recommended by the WHO. In this regard, we also call on the NDOH to compel all institutional managers to regularly update NEHAWU and other trade unions on all Coronavirus and COVID-19 data especially pertaining to the healthcare workers in the institutions.
· Government must fill all vacant posts in the public healthcare sector and ensure that we start to build building blocks for the implementation of the National Health Insurance [NHI].
· We call on the government to implement a Risk allowance for frontline workers for the hard work and sacrifice of their lives and families during this fight against this invisible enemy. This include honouring the salary adjustment for public servants by implementing the last leg of PSCBC Resolution 1 of 2018 especially clause 3.3 as is.
· We demand that all COIDA claims be processed in line with the Compensation for Occupational Injuries and Diseases Act, 130 of 1993.
· Departments of Human Settlement, Water and Sanitation, Social Development and Higher Education and Training must implement the settlement agreements signed with them post-strike actions in 2017 and 2018.
· We demand that South African Social Security Agency [SASSA], Independent Electoral Commission [IEC], the National Home Builders Registration Council [NHBRC] and Special Investigative Unit [SIU] must immediately implement their respective wage agreements of the sectors.
National Day of Prayer
As a build up to the National Day of Action the national union on the 1st September 2020 will be hosting the National Memorial Day across the country with the main event being at the Chris Hani Baragwanath Academic Hospital. The day will be dedicated to the memory of all workers and frontline workers in particular that have lost their lives to COVID-19. These workers have paid the ultimate price with their lives as a result of the sheer neglect and failures on the part of the employers, both the government and the private institutions to protect them from the coronavirus.
In this regard, across the country workers will meet at 12pm for the memorial to observe a moment of silence in remembrance of all workers who have lost their lives to the virus.
The events will be held as follows:
· Main event: Chris Hani Baragwanath Hospital in Soweto
· Eastern Cape: Cecilia Makiwane Hospital in Mdantsane
· Free State: Boitumelo Hospital in Kroonstad
· KwaZulu-Natal: Umngeni Hospital in Howick
· Mpumalanga: Themba Hospital in Kabokweni
· Northern Cape: Robert Mangaliso Sobukwe Hospital in Kimberley
· North West: Mafikeng Hospital in Mafikeng
· Limpopo: Pietersburg Hospital in Polokwane
· Western Cape: Khayelitsha Hospital in Khayelitsha
A roll call of workers who have lost their lives to COVID-19 will be read. The aim of the event is to honour workers for the hard and good work they displayed thus far in saving lives of others at the expense of theirs. Interfaith prayers will be observed for the health and safety of workers during the pandemic.
Motorcade and hooting for frontline workers
On the 2nd September 2020, the national union will organise motorcades across the country which will be going from workplace to workplace saluting and thanking all frontline workers and workers for their contribution so far. NEHAWU also encourages motorists to hoot at 12pm in support of all frontline workers who are our first line of defence against COVID-19 and bedrock of our national response against the virus.
Our aim is not only to pledge our solidarity but to express our gratitude to all these unsung frontline heroes and heroines in the war against the invisible enemy. Moreover, we want to send a message of appreciation and to strengthen their courage as they battle to save the lives of our people.
Our ongoing national programme of action is but one of the concrete ways in which we seek to ensure that their struggles are recognized and their grievances are addressed with immediate effect by the employers. All members of the national union will on this day have an opportunity to salute these combatants for their selflessness and the sterling job they have been doing since the outbreak of the virus. We also encourage society at large to join in as we celebrate the good work by frontline workers and motivate them to soldier on even when faced by adversity that sometimes is caused by the recklessness of employers.
And so, on this day we shall intensify our mobilization for the 3rd September 2020. In this regard, the programme draws in all sections of our membership across our sectors in which the entirety of our membership will be given an opportunity to show and express their appreciation for this sterling work tendered by frontline workers individually and collectively in defense of our people. Therefore, the main activity shall be around the motorcades that would be organised by provinces.
The motorcade will be moving to strategically selected workplaces where workers will be saluted and a leader of the union will deliver a brief message to all its members and workers before moving to another place. The aim is to cover as many workplaces as possible and to salute as many workers as possible.
Update on progress registered thus far:
· NHLS strike: after commencement of the lunch hour pickets the employer rushed to court to interdict our strike. However, we have since appealed the judgment and we shall continue with lunch hour pickets until the court clears us to commence with our full blown strike.
· Tsaya le tsatsi la leave: we are happy with the turnout of workers who applied for leave on the 24th August 2020.
· Siyahlala Day of Action: we are also happy with the number of workers who did not report for duty on the 28th September 2020.
· Work to rule camping: workers will observe the work to rule campaign from today until the 10th September when they will down tools completely if government does not respond positively to the demands to be presented on the 3rd September 2020 during the National Day of Action.
Support of fraternal structures
COSATU, SACP, SASCO, YCLSA, and SAUS have not only pledged their support but are fully participating in the national programme of action. Students, youth, and all others sectors of society have been disadvantaged by the outbreak of the virus and many young people have lost their jobs while others have reduced chances of breaking into the labour market. The academic calendar has been disrupted with many working class students failing to continue with their studies because of the imbalances that characterizes our higher education system.
The outbreak of the coronavirus has given birth to a new breed of tenderprenuers called Covidpreneurs who have used the opportunity to loot state resources meant to procure PPEs for frontline workers. Workers are losing their lives on a daily basis because of substandard PPEs that exposes them to the virus. In this regard, we call for the centralization of the procurement of PPEs as the current decentralized and fragmented approach has led to corrupt tendencies finding a leeway to access funds dedicated to procuring PPEs for frontline workers.
At this point, we want to highlight the fact that the national programme of action is our only hope to stop the carnage of workers at the hands of reckless and intransigent employers. Health and safety challenges have always been there, however, they have been exacerbated by the outbreak of the virus. Workers continue to be paid peanuts and also not getting bonuses while being overworked because of understaffing.
Through this programme we want to guarantee the health and safety of workers who go to work to sell their labour and not their lives. We want to ensure that we protect collective bargaining and the right to strike. For us this represents a pushback against the onslaught of employers who renege on implementing binding agreements. This campaign is a do or die for us and we are not prepared to lose this fight. Our members and workers are agitated and highly mobilized against exploitative employers who are preoccupied with austerity measures and profit maximization. Government has been declaring war for some time now against our members and workers. The time to engage on the battlefield is now and we shall not retreat nor surrender. Workers need their salary increase now which was due to come to effect on the 1st April 2020 as stipulated in PSCBC Resolution 1 of 2018.
Issued by NEHAWU, COSATU, SASCO, YCLSA and SAUS Secretariat
Zola Saphetha (General Secretary) at 082 558 5968; December Mavuso (Deputy General Secretary) at 082 558 5969; Khaya Xaba (NEHAWU National Spokesperson) at 082 455 2500 or email: khaya@nehawu.org.za Visit NEHAWU website: www.nehawu.org.za or COSATU National Spokesperson Cde Sizwe Pamla at 060 975 6794, SACP Media Liaison Officer and Digital Media Co-ordinator at 079 384 6550, SASCO Luvuyo Barnes Media and Communication Liaison at 079 393 7131, YCLSA National Spokesperson Cde Dloze Matooane at 066 570 3902, SAUS Spokesperson at Cde Thabo Shingange 071 664 6858