Ramaphosa welcomes Cosatu endorsement of minimum wage

Pretoria - Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa has, in his capacity as chair of the NEDLAC Committee of Principals, welcomed the adoption by the Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU) of the proposed national minimum wage of R20 an hour.

The COSATU Central Executive Committee (CEC) announced on Thursday that the trade union federation supported the national minimum wage and labour relations package agreed recently by leadership of labour, community, government and business under the auspices of the NEDLAC Committee of Principals.

The agreement followed a directive by President Jacob Zuma to NEDLAC in 2014 to deliberate measures to reduce wage inequality in the country and improve labour relations, notably reducing the intensity and duration of industrial action.

“The announcement by the Central Executive of Committee of COSATU is an important milestone in the process of making the National Minimum Wage a reality in our economy," said Ramaphosa.

“The CEC’s endorsement builds on the very constructive approach COSATU adopted throughout the NEDLAC process, in the face of very difficult choices at times. COSATU represented not only the interests of its own membership but those of working and unemployed South Africans at large."

READ: Cosatu accepts minimum wage

According to Ramaphosa, the endorsement represents the will of the working people of SA and enables the initiation of a public consultation process that will ultimately result in new legislation that will regulate implementation of the national minimum wage by no later than May 2018.

“The decision by COSATU gives further impetus to NEDLAC’s contribution to addressing poverty, unemployment and inequality in our society, and to restoring the dignity of South Africans, notably the working poor," said Ramaphosa.

“The Committee of Principals looks forward to COSATU’s national office bearers appending their signatures to an already historic agreement, in line with the mandate given by the CEC.”

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