As we mark Human Rights Day, let us not forget the rights of the workers

We have much to celebrate as a nation and trade union movement with real gains advancing human rights since 1994 under successive ANC-led governments.
We are governed by a progressive Constitution affirming the human rights of all citizens, in particular the vulner- able.
Critically it compels government to interpret human rights not through a narrow liberal perspective but rather an inclusive socio-economic perspec- tive befitting South Africa’s still present apartheid and racially skewed landscape.
Workers’ rights are interlinked and inseparable from human rights. Cosatu was formed not only to defeat apartheid but also to improve the working and living conditions of workers.
Apartheid was based on the exploita- tion and suppression of the human rights of Black workers. Workers’ struggles and the struggle to defeat apartheid were indivisible. The struggles post-1994 to improve workers’ rights and the lives of working-class communities remain intrinsically linked.
Cosatu is proud of how we have managed to secure in law many work- ers’ rights. More needs to be done to ensure our labour laws keep pace with the evolving nature of work, including protecting atypical workers such as art- ists, musicians, and actors from being denied their rights.
Our labour laws have advanced work- ers’ rights from the right to work in a safe environment, repealing of racist legislation, setting minimum and maxi- mum working hours, paid time off and overtime pay, maternity and parental and adoption leave, equal pay for equal work, and a national minimum wage uplifting 6 million impoverished workers’ wages.
Paying workers a living wage is key to boosting morale and productivity, eradicating indebtedness and poverty, and providing a decent life. If workers are to buy the goods businesses produce, they need to be paid a living wage.
More must be done to ensure employ- ers comply with their legal obligations, in particular sectors prone to abusing workers’ rights, e.g. agriculture, domes- tic, construction, cleaning, and security.
Respecting workers’ rights is not only alegal requirement but critical to labour market stability and economy produc- tivity. The abuse of workers’ rights is a recipe for labour market strife.
The government and employers must play their role in enforcing our laws, including the right to a safe workplace. We cannot continue to normalise the death of a mineworker and a police officer weekly. Nor should we tolerate the sexual abuse of women workers.
The Freedom Charter eloquently states that all South Africans have the right to work.
Employment is essential to survive, live, and take care of one’s family. We live in a free-market economy where essen- tial items from food to clothing, from warmth to shelter, from transport to electricity are commodified and require workers to have money to purchase them.
We have an unsustainable unem- ployment rate of 41.6% and 70% youth unemployment. Creating not just work, but decent work is essential if workers are not only to survive but to enjoy their rights.
When unemployment is so high, workers take any job, even if their employer violates their rights, makes them work long hours, locks them up in a dangerous sweat shop, or harasses them. Reducing unemployment is key to ensuring workers can assert their rights.
The Employment Equity Act compels employers to ensure their workplaces reflect South Africa’s demographics and to provide a career path and invest in the skills of their employees.
The Department of Trade, Industry and Competition (Dtic) has been work- ing with businesses and Cosatu to enable workers to become shareholders, in other words, owners of their companies as part of moving workers from being just salary recipients to also receiving dividends. Worker ownership is crucial to uplift and empower workers and transform our still racially skewed economy.
Workers depend u...