19 September 2007
Labour Minister Membathisi Mdladlana will turn his attention to workers in
the leather industry when he delivers the keynote address at their national
congress in George, in the Western Cape, on Friday, 21 September 2007. His
talk, which will focus on declining trade union membership, will coincide with
the 81st birthday celebrations of the National Union of Leather and Allied
Workers (Nulaw).
The union, whose membership peaked at 27 000 in 1989, has seen the figures
dropping dramatically to the current levels of 11 000, something that gives the
Minister sleepless nights. The Minister has been on a whirlwind tour of
addressing workers recently starting with the congress of the Food and Allied
Workers' Union (Fawu) in Johannesburg last week, visiting Sheltered Employment
Factories in Cape Town this week. His trips were interjected with visits to
Ntabankulu in the Eastern Cape where he handed over computers to schools as
well as an address to the graduation ceremony of the Management College of
Southern Africa (Mancosa) in Durban at the weekend.
The Minister is expected to talk to workers in George about the negative
impact of globalisation on the labour market, especially on trade
liberalisation and the relocation of production to lower-wage economies. This
often results in the decline in formal employment, especially in developing
countries like ours. The event will be held at Pinelodge at 10h00.
Enquiries:
Zolisa Sigabi
Cell: 082 906 3878
E-mail: zolisa.sigabi@labour.gov.za
Issued by: Department of Labour
19 September 2007
Source: Department of Labour (http://www.labour.gov.za)
