Johannesburg - Workers should become part of a culture of
life-long learning to improve their skills and increase their income, trade
union Solidarity said on Tuesday.
"This year employees should not only ask for
double-figure increases; they should aspire to doubling their salaries through
improved skills," Solidarity said in a Workers' Day statement.
To boost this campaign, Solidarity will make money available
to help members keep up with training through a R5m fund drawn from union
membership contributions.
They would also establish a R150m training campus shortly.
"Die Kampus" will be the home of Sol-Tech and
Akademia, a technical college and higher-education institution of the
Solidarity Movement.
"The information era is causing knowledge to increase
so rapidly that no-one can afford not to embark on life-long learning,"
said Flip Buys, Solidarity general secretary.
"We believe that trade unions' new strategic role in
South Africa should be to make members more employable by improving their
skills. This is the best route to job security in South Africa," Buys
said.
If trade unions, in partnership with government and the
private sector, could succeed in raising the skills ceiling through training,
it would also raise the economic-growth ceiling.
Improved economic growth would ultimately lead to job creation poverty alleviation, he said.