Johannesburg - The government has welcomed the proposals regarding employment put forward by the co-chairs of the Millennium Labour Council, Bobby Godsell and Zwelinzima Vavi.

In a statement on Thursday, Economic Development Minister Ebrahim Patel's spokesperson Zubeida Jaffer said that Godsell, the former chairperson of Eskom, and Vavi, the general secretary of the Congress of SA Trade Unions, had the full support of the government.

Their proposals arose from "discussions held in terms of the framework for SA's response to the international economic crisis, whose implementation is led by the minister of economic development," she said.

"In August this year, Minister Patel called for a national jobs pact that should include measures developed between organised labour and business to address the rising joblessness and the high levels of retrenchments."

Jaffer said the ministry had encouraged and supported business and organised labour to craft a statement bilaterally that could be publicised in their constituencies, which are the parties to collective bargaining and retrenchment discussions in terms of the Labour Relations Act.

Godsell and Vavi told a media briefing on Tuesday that they supported Patel's call for dialogue on a national jobs pact that would be directed at protecting jobs and taking the framework to shop-floor level for implementation.

Jaffer said the government's approach to economic recovery was characterised by placing social dialogue and social partnership at the centre of the response to the recession.

"This approach recognises that whilst the constituencies have distinct interests, the developmental needs of the society require that we develop a common vision to respond to the recession and also to lay the basis for a more labour-absorbing growth path."

She said the response to the recession had led to a number of agreements between the four parties to the framework, namely business, organised labour, the community constituency and the government.

"These are intended to address the challenges of poverty, unemployment and inequality."

She said the statement developed by Godsell and Vavi was "an important signal" of the serious intent to work together and that it built on the positive experience of the framework.

"It was appropriate that they had the opportunity to publicise the statement," Jaffer said.

"This announcement confirms that the solid foundations are steadily falling into place that will allow the work of recovery to move steadily forward," she said.

Godsell and Vavi said South Africa had to preserve as many current jobs as possible.

Godsell appealed to business to reflect on alternatives to retrenchments, while Vavi said labour should consider ways of reducing labour costs, such as short-time wage freezes and wage cuts.

Almost a million people have lost their jobs this year in South Africa.

- Sapa