Cosatu on job losses: Govt ‘too lenient’ on private sector
The Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu) believes the government has been too lenient on the private sector when it comes to the issue of job losses.
The trade union federation was reacting to the news that the unemployment rate increased to 30.1% in the first quarter of the year.
READ: Lockdown job losses ‘will shock SA’
The latest job figures comes a day before Finance Minister Tito Mboweni is expected to table an supplementary Covid-19 budget.
Cosatu spokesperson Sizwe Palma says no action has been taken against the employers who are stealing UIF claims meant for workers.
“What we are looking at right now is government seems to be too soft on the private sector. There is very little that the private sector has offered and, in fact, we are dealing with some employers stealing workers money from UIF.
“Going forward we really hope government is going to be decisive because we need a stimulus package that is going to help us keep up this economy and what interventions government is bringing to the table.”
He says no company which is retrenching workers should benefit from a stimulus package provided by government.
‘’Only those who are prepared to actually continue to protect jobs should be able to access assistance from government.”