Labour brokers are bloodsuckers and a cancer which need to be rooted out for the working class to advance, National Union of Metalworkers of SA (Numsa) general secretary Irvin Jim said on Wednesday.
Jim, speaking in his capacity as the national convener of the Socialist Revolutionary Workers’ Party, did not mince his words at its election rally held at the Nangoza Jebe Hall in New Brighton.
He took aim mainly at the government ahead of the party’s official national launch on Thursday.
Jim confirmed the new party, Numsa’s brainchild, would contest the elections on May 8.
The party would also launch its branches in Nelson Mandela Bay on Thursday, he told the crowd of about 400 people.
Jim said the party’s main focus would be on combating anti-poor and anti-worker policies, and it wanted labour brokers banned.
“They are bloodsuckers. They are a cancer,” he said.
“It’s basically you being an individual and a company like VW [Volkswagen] says it needs workers [then] you simply say you will provide labour but you don’t actually work.
“It is the workers who work. Instead of those workers being paid benefits, their money, that could have gone for benefits and everything else, goes to you as a labour broker.
“We stand by our initial demand that labour brokers must be banned, but the ANC government has refused to do that, so we will now have to take up this fight on our own in court.”
About the R20-an-hour national minimum wage announced by the government in 2018, Jim said: “As a union we view [President] Cyril Ramaphosa’s introduction of that national minimum wage as the worst attack on the hard-won gains of workers.
“Not only that, the constitutional right of workers to strike has also been attacked.”
Jim said if it came into power, the party would restructure the economy.
“We will be waging a struggle to transform the South African economy. We believe this country is very rich, and all that needs to be done is to nationalise all of our minerals, beneficiate and diversify them, create new sectors and new jobs,” he said.
“We would ban the export of scrap metal, because if you [do that] you can make sure you reopen the foundries that were destroyed by the government.”
He said the party would nationalise the SA Reserve Bank.
“It must stop its hot pursuit of inflation targeting – it must target job creation, it must cut interest rates because these interest rates are maintained opportunistically to protect the value of white wealth, who own the economy.
“Our mission is to deal with the concentration of wealth in the hands of the minority,” Jim said.
‘Bloodsuckers must go’-Irvin Jim
Image: Fredlin Adriaan
Labour brokers are bloodsuckers and a cancer which need to be rooted out for the working class to advance, National Union of Metalworkers of SA (Numsa) general secretary Irvin Jim said on Wednesday.
Jim, speaking in his capacity as the national convener of the Socialist Revolutionary Workers’ Party, did not mince his words at its election rally held at the Nangoza Jebe Hall in New Brighton.
He took aim mainly at the government ahead of the party’s official national launch on Thursday.
Jim confirmed the new party, Numsa’s brainchild, would contest the elections on May 8.
The party would also launch its branches in Nelson Mandela Bay on Thursday, he told the crowd of about 400 people.
Jim said the party’s main focus would be on combating anti-poor and anti-worker policies, and it wanted labour brokers banned.
“They are bloodsuckers. They are a cancer,” he said.
“It’s basically you being an individual and a company like VW [Volkswagen] says it needs workers [then] you simply say you will provide labour but you don’t actually work.
“It is the workers who work. Instead of those workers being paid benefits, their money, that could have gone for benefits and everything else, goes to you as a labour broker.
“We stand by our initial demand that labour brokers must be banned, but the ANC government has refused to do that, so we will now have to take up this fight on our own in court.”
About the R20-an-hour national minimum wage announced by the government in 2018, Jim said: “As a union we view [President] Cyril Ramaphosa’s introduction of that national minimum wage as the worst attack on the hard-won gains of workers.
“Not only that, the constitutional right of workers to strike has also been attacked.”
Jim said if it came into power, the party would restructure the economy.
“We will be waging a struggle to transform the South African economy. We believe this country is very rich, and all that needs to be done is to nationalise all of our minerals, beneficiate and diversify them, create new sectors and new jobs,” he said.
“We would ban the export of scrap metal, because if you [do that] you can make sure you reopen the foundries that were destroyed by the government.”
He said the party would nationalise the SA Reserve Bank.
“It must stop its hot pursuit of inflation targeting – it must target job creation, it must cut interest rates because these interest rates are maintained opportunistically to protect the value of white wealth, who own the economy.
“Our mission is to deal with the concentration of wealth in the hands of the minority,” Jim said.
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