3.1 Jobs and Poverty Campaign
This Ninth National Congress notes:

1. The continued relevance of the resolutions of the 2003 COSATU Congress on the Proudly SA Campaign, restructuring and job losses and the declaration on the strength of the rand.
2. More than ten years into the democratic dispensation, our society is still ravaged by extremely high levels of unemployment, poverty arising from unemployment and low pay for workers, extremely high levels of inequality; and high school drop out rates due to poor budgets and unaffordable school fees.
3. Globalisation has led to the restructuring of the working class through mass retrenchments and layoffs and the expansion of casual, temporary, outsourced and other atypical work.
4. Import levels have caused serious damage to many industries, particularly in clothing, textile and footwear and other light manufacturing sectors

5. The medium-term vision of the Federation the 2015 plan places the defence and creation of quality jobs firmly on the Federation’s agenda, in line with the commitments of the Freedom Charter and the RDP to ensuring work for all.
Therefore this Ninth National Congress resolves:

1. The Jobs and Poverty Campaign should be the centrepiece of COSATU and affiliate campaigns in the three years ahead.
2. The campaign should include a focus on the following components:

a. A living wage for workers as the primary means of combating growing poverty. The living wage should be the cornerstone of the work of the trade union movement.
b. A comprehensive plan to create quality jobs and to ensure that the millions of unemployed are able to work in conditions of decent work. In addition the state should provide a living unemployed benefit.
c. Our campaign to stop privatisation and job losses. The state should provide permanent, quality jobs in the public service and not temporary, low-paid jobs as envisaged in the Extended Public Works Programme.
d. The state should increase tax on company profits and the rich while scrapping VAT.
e. Trade agreements should not undermine the capacity of developing countries to build a strong economic base, and in this context we reject the attempts through the WTO to have further trade liberalisation that would cause massive job losses in South Africa and a number of other countries of the south or to coerce developing countries to expand trade negotiations, and hence limit national government sovereignty, on issues such as services, investment and government procurement. .
f. Fair trade as a basis for our trading relationship with other countries, with respect for worker rights in all trading nations, fair access for developing countries to the markets of developed countries and fair prices for goods from the South. We do not accept the suggested trade-off between agreed market access on agriculture in the north, with opening of markets in the south, since the goal of the trade talks are to foster a development round
g. Industrial policy measures and framework to rebuild and modernise our manufacturing base, create strong links between services and manufacturing and beneficiate more local products.
h. Labour market policies and laws that promote quality jobs, decent work and rights for all workers, including those at small businesses and strengthening of bargaining councils
h. Economic policies to ensure that all policies promote the growth of decent work (more jobs and better jobs for all).
i. A 2010 World Cup that is developmental in focus and creates quality jobs. The 2010 World Cup to be bound by an Agreement to support the Proudly SA campaign and promote fair labour standards.
j. The Proudly SA and buy ‘locally manufactured’ campaigns as ways of retaining jobs in South Africa, with public sector and retailer commitments to the campaigns. Government procurement should support the local industry and all three levels of government should, wherever possible, procure all their goods from companies who manufacture them locally, with respect for the rights of workers. Retailers should ensure that at least 75% of their light consumer goods (clothing, footwear, food, plastics, etc) are manufactured locally and should enter into a Code on Procurement with the union movement to achieve this.
k. Government tender standards should include observance of fair labour standards as well as local procurement.
l. Competition authorities should be bound to a strong job security and job creation mandate and should be required to work with trade unions to ensure compliance with this mandate.
m. Worker cooperatives must be considered as one key means of saving jobs
n. To review insolvency laws to ensure that saving jobs become a priority.

3. To welcome the quota introduced on clothing and textile products from China, and in this context to:

a. Call on retailers to shift their sourcing to companies that manufacture in South Africa
b. Launch a public information campaign aimed at consumers and workers, to draw attention to the job losses caused by imports
c. Monitor the buying patterns of retailers through partnerships between SACCAWU and other manufacturing unions and take further action should sourcing not be shifted to South Africa

4. To have a full discussion around the nature of the demands as well as the tactics of the campaign in all COSATU and affiliate structures.
5. Our mass strikes and protest actions should not only take a one-day form but should be sustained until our demands are met.
6. The demands should also focus on key demands such as for the nationalisation under workers’ control of the commanding heights of the economy, industries or companies where retrenchments are envisaged or have taken place.
7. COSATU and the SACP must do everything in their power to redirect the energy of the state towards a planned economy capable of meeting the needs of the people and the poor; such a planned economy must not rule out the possibilities for nationalisation and redistribution of the country’s vast and enormous material resources.
8. To reject free trade agreements (bilateral or multilateral) that will lead to job losses, and work with unions elsewhere in the world to defeat attempts through WTO agreements to limit policy space for developing countries.
9. To have a national retrenchment monitoring system, initially on information supplied by COSATU and the other trade union Federations with quarterly data released to the public, with a view to an agreement at Nedlac for the general release of this information.
10. To actively involve ourselves in community campaigns for the provision of basic social services, including the right to decent housing, education, transport and health (free provision of ARVs by state hospitals, etc).
11. To form coalitions with all forces committed to the objectives of the Jobs and Poverty Campaign.
12. To form a United Front Jobs and Poverty Campaign Forum, consisting of COSATU, affiliates and our allies and supporters of the campaign, community organisations, NGOs, SACP etc. that will meet regularly and co-ordinate the campaign.
13. The campaign should be built from the bottom-up and not driven only as a high-profile media campaign by a few leaders. To this extent industrial and community locals have to be resuscitated and resourced.
14. Attention should be focussed on weaker affiliates to ensure strengthening of COSATU in the provinces and meaningful participation of all workers in the campaign.
15. A concerted attempt within affiliates and by the Federation should be made to organise the unemployed, informal workers and casuals. This should be co-ordinated by the COSATU organisers’ forum.
16. The Central Executive Committee and the Central Committee should ensure full implementation of the different elements and to give effect to the existing COSATU policies.