Craven announces the arrival of Salipswu‚ aka Sapsu

The arrival of the newest union on the labour scene on Thursday came with a lengthy explanation of what it is actually called.

After “almost three years of hard work a new gigantic union for public sector workers has finally been registered”‚ spokesperson Patrick Craven said by way of introducing the South African Public Service Union (Sapsu).

Craven said “it should be noted‚ however‚ that the registered name of the union is…South African Liberated Public Sector Workers Union (Salipswu)”.

This is‚ he explained‚ “due to the view held by the Department of Labour that the name Sapsu resembles some already registered trade unions and that this may lead to confusion on the part of the workers and the public”.

Craven said the union was established “to promote the principle of unity of workers in the sector and to ensure that they speak in one voice”. The organisation this subscribed to the principle of “one sector one union; one country one federation”.

The union would‚ he said‚ “in the next few days…be holding several meetings to strategise and adopt strategic plans” towards building “an organisational structure and systems that will track the common and varied needs and challenges of workers in various state departments and institutions; including all state agencies so as to be able to address them”.

Craven also said the union hopes to have its “website fully functional within the next week with a facility for membership application and processing; link such a membership system to a membership hotline and SMS service which will ensure a short turn-around time for membership processing and recording”.