NUMSA 26th annniversay Cake-Cutting Ceremony and official launch of the 400 000 target recruitment campaign
TOMORROW, 17 May 2013, marks the 26th anniversary since the establishment of the biggest Metalworkers union in Africa and the largest affiliate of the Congress of South Africa Trade Unions (COSATU) – the National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa (Numsa), which represents a total membership of 320 000 in the trye, rubber, motor, auto, engineering sectors and Eskom.
As part of celebrating our 26 years of relentless struggles for a living wage, people’s power and for Socialism, we will have a symbolic cake-cutting ceremony to celebrate a birthday of a union that has been a pioneer in many respects. We will also be celebrating exemplary sacrifices and legacies of trade unionists who contributed to the building of a powerful, class orientated, ideological, militant, red and internationalist metalworkers union, such as Vuyisile Mini, Jabulile Ndlovu, Sam Ntuli, Phineas Sibiya, Simon Ngubane, Florence Mnikathi, John Gomomo, Mbuyiselo Ngwenda, Mtutuzeli Tom, Bimba Maqabashane, and Danny Olifant.
We will also be celebrating an absolutely decisive role played by Numsa during apartheid years, and ensuring our country achieved a negotiated political transition or democratic breakthrough in the early ‘90s.
Today, at 26 years old, we are the fastest growing trade union affiliate of COSATU amidst serious ideological offensive and threats to our collective bargaining power from our class opponents as represented by the mouthpiece of white monopoly capital – the Democratic Alliance (DA) and Free Market Foundation (FMF).
We are currently standing at 320 000 membership – and – we have set ourselves a target of 400 000 by the year 2016;
We will tomorrow unveil our Recruitment Strategy and tasks for each and every Shopsteward and Organizer towards achieving our 400 000 membership target.
The event will be addressed by the following leaders of the Alliance;
• ZWELINZIMA VAVI, COSATU General Secretary;
• ENOCH GODONGWANA, ANC National Executive Committee (NEC) Member ;
• CHARLES SETSHUBI, SACP Central Committee (CC) Member
• CEDRIC GINA, NUMSA President
The details are as follows:
DATE : Friday 17 May 2013
TIME : 10H00am
VENUE: Protea Auditorium, Sol Kerzner School of Tourism and Hospitality, University of Johannesburg (UJ), Bunting Road campus (opposite eGoli Gas), Auckland Park, Johannesburg
Members of the media are hereby invited to attend and report.
Contact:
Castro Ngobese
Numsa National Spokesperson – +2781 011 1137