{"id":430064,"date":"2020-08-31T16:27:44","date_gmt":"2020-08-31T14:27:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/?p=430064"},"modified":"2020-08-31T16:27:44","modified_gmt":"2020-08-31T14:27:44","slug":"unions-plan-national-day-of-mass-action-on-thursday","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/trending\/430064\/unions-plan-national-day-of-mass-action-on-thursday\/","title":{"rendered":"Unions plan national day of mass action on Thursday"},"content":{"rendered":"

The National Education, Health and Allied Workers\u2019 Union (Nehawu) and others will march to Union Buildings and other government offices on Thursday (3 September) as part of its ‘commitment’ to defend and protect its members and workers against Covid-19. <\/span><\/p>\n

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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 advanced stage and we want to confirm our state of readiness for the success of the programme,” the union said as part of a joint statement on Monday (31 August).<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

\u201cThe 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 (personal protective equipment) for frontline workers. Workers are losing their lives on a daily basis because of substandard PPEs that exposes them to the virus,\u201d Nehawu said.<\/p>\n

The collective unions want the government to centralise PPE procurement to root out corruption. This comes after several government officials were implicated in alleged corruption in deals relating to Covid-19, most notably the Gauteng Health Department, the eldest sons of ANC secretary-general Ace Magashule and the husband of Khusela Diko, president Cyril Ramaphosa\u2019s spokesperson.<\/p>\n

The national day of action also aims to \u201cstop the carnage of workers at the hands of reckless and intransigent employers\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cHealth 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,\u201d Nehawu and its partners said.<\/p>\n

Nehawu\u2019s membership base exceeds 240,000 people, making it the largest public-sector union in the country.<\/p>\n

Additional parties set to take part on Thursday, include:<\/p>\n