Numsa rejects R3500 minimum wage
Metalworkers union Numsa has rejected Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa's proposed minimum wage of R3500, describing it as both pathetic and an insult.
Numsa General Secretary Irvin Jim addressed the media ahead of its 10th National Congress which will be held in Cape Town from 12 - 15 December.
"The Cosatu leadership has colluded with the ANC neo-liberal government around the national minimum wage. Numsa regards Cyril Ramaphosa's proposal for R3500 a month as a legitimisation of slavery wages, which would leave millions in poverty but safeguard the interests of the exploiting capitalist class," says Jim.
Jim says the struggle for a minimum wage doesn't need a Father Christmas in the form of Ramaphosa.
"When we say we want a national minimum wage, we want a living wage. We want to break the backbone of colonial super exploitation that has happened. As Numsa we did not run around and jump and say this amount, this amount, because a take a very firm view that we've still got an apartheid wage gap in this country," says Jim.