The South African Federation of Trade Unions (SAFTU) joins workers across the world in commemorating the International Day of Decent Work. On this day, we salute the global trade union movement for decades of struggle to mitigate exploitation and secure decent work for all.
Without these struggles, workers would be worked to death by capitalism. For SAFTU, decent work means a living wage, safe and healthy working conditions, job security, and benefits that sustain workers’ families. The fight for decent work presupposes employment itself, and therefore it is inseparable from the struggle for mass job creation.
South Africa’s Reality: Unemployment, Poverty, Inequality
This commemoration comes at a sombre time for South Africa, where unemployment, poverty, and inequality remain entrenched. Expanded unemployment remains catastrophically high, trapping millions in insecure, low-paid, and informal jobs without protection. Women and young workers continue to bear the brunt of a neoliberal system that prioritises profit over people.
Unemployment undermines the fight for decent work. Fear of job loss forces workers to accept poverty wages and degrading conditions, while bosses exploit this weakness to impose wage cuts, reduce hard-won benefits, and enforce short-time. The result is worsening inequality, poverty, malnutrition, and deepening social crises in working-class communities.
Job Losses, Labour Law Attacks, and Austerity
The recent wave of retrenchments and company closures such as at ArcelorMittal, SAB, and Goodyear illustrates the combined failures of neoliberal economic policy and capitalist crisis. These conditions pressure workers into submission and entrench poverty wages.
At the same time, government is pushing amendments to labour laws which threaten to erode hard-won rights. SAFTU will not allow neoliberal attacks disguised as “stimulating growth” to reverse decades of worker struggle.
Compounding this, the social wage is under assault from austerity. Chronic underfunding of public healthcare and education, collapsing water infrastructure, and endless electricity tariff hikes make survival harder for the working class. Services essential to the reproduction of working-class families are becoming inaccessible.
Our Demands
SAFTU demands:
• A living wage for all workers, not poverty wages disguised as minimum wages.
• An end to labour brokering, outsourcing, and casualisation.
• Mass creation of quality, permanent jobs through pro-worker industrial and public investment strategies.
• Full rights and protections, including the right to unionise and bargain collectively.
• Expanded social protection and universal access to housing, healthcare, education, and public transport.
• An end to austerity and neoliberal policies that strangle growth and destroy jobs.
• A democratic public works programme that guarantees work for all, with decent wages and conditions.
Our Commitment
SAFTU reaffirms its commitment to the struggle for a just, equitable, and democratic society. Dignity begins with decent work, and workers will not rest until it is won.
For more information, contact the National Spokesperson at:
Newton Masuku
Newtonmmasuku@saftu.org.za
0661682157
Media Officer
Asive Dyani
0719019564
