By Lungile Ntimba
Delegates at the L20 workshop held in Gqeberha have called for global solidarity among workers’ movements, urging trade unions to remain vigilant in defending labour rights against deregulation, privatisation and digital exploitation.
They emphasised the need to address the challenges faced by workers in Africa and the Global South, as well as women employees.
This included advancing state provided childcare, safe public transport for women and the elimination discrimination and gender-based violence and harassment at work.
The meeting commended the Department of Employment and Labour for its efforts in expanding the platform for labour engagement on critical issues.
Convened under the theme “Living and Working in an Unequal World: Ensuring Decent Work and Decent Lives”, the meeting brought together global trade union leaders and international organisations including South African government representatives.
The hybrid meeting attended by 80 global delegates was hosted by the country’s four major trade union federations, Cosatu, Fedusa, Nactu and Saftu. It emphasised the importance of prioritising worker’s interests in global economic decision-making.
Delegates said the was an urgent need for a just transition as economies shifted towards greener energy sources.
While welcoming the creation of 16.2 million green jobs globally, trade union leaders raised concerns over unequal job distribution, with developing countries struggling to access the benefits of climate-related employment opportunities and grant funding to promote industrialisation, mitigation and adaptation
They also called for global labour protections, new job creation and decent work with living wages and safe workplaces.
Strong social protection mechanisms should be set up to support workers and communities impacted by economic shifts linked to climate policies.
They also highlighted comprehensive reskilling and training programmes for workers transitioning out of carbon-intensive industries, and public investment in renewable energy and infrastructure that prioritised local job creation.
“We cannot allow the green transition to become a new form of economic colonialism,” said International Trade Union Confederation president for Africa, Martha Molema.
“Workers in the Global South must not bear the brunt of environmental policies designed without their inclusion.”
The meeting also called for a comprehensive expansion of universal social protection systems, highlighting that four billion people worldwide lacked access to social protection, particularly informal workers, women and youth.
With many developing nations struggling under the weight of unsustainable debt, the federations and unions called on the G20 to deliver real relief, including debt cancellation where necessary.
“We cannot allow workers to continue bearing the costs of financial crises they did not create,” Fedusa general secretary Riefdah Ajams said.
Furthermore, the workshop highlighted the urgent need to address the rampant informalisation, the crushing of weight debt, climate crisis, suppression of union rights, exploitation of natural resources and labour.
It also demanded worker protections against digital surveillance, algorithmic control and exploitation.
Workplace discrimination and gender-based violence were also addressed, with participants highlighting that economic policies must empower women.
Labour reaffirmed its commitments to ensuring that worker-centric policies were integrated into global economic strategies and that policy placed people before profit.
“While governments talk and engage each other in the L20 and G20, let us not be fooled. This may look like a polite discussion forum, but it is a battleground! We are here to fight hard for workers,” Cosatu president Zingiswa Losi said in a statement.
“We are here to shape the narrative and forge a path towards a world where the working class is no longer crushed under the boots of inequality, neo-liberalism and a mentality that places profit before people”.
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