Cosatu urges other unions to join its national strike

The Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu) has urged other unions to join its strike against rising cost of living, rolling blaouts and fuel price hikes.

The nationwide strike has been planned for next week Wednesday [August 24].

Cosatu spokesperson Sizwe Pamla claims that the country’s working class is being sidelined and disregarded.

“We can confirm that we have a national strike on the 24th of August, next week. This strike is a socio-economic strike. It is focused on raising issues with the decision and policymakers about the state of the working class in general.”

“We have a high cost of living because of load shedding, because of fuel price hikes. But also we also suspect there is price gouging in the retail and pharmaceutical sectors,” adds Pamla.

[embedded content]

Cosatu says the strike also represents a push back by the workers, against the ongoing class warfare directed at them by both public and private sector employers.

Below is the full interview with Sizwe Pamla: