Cosatu to pressurize clothing retailers to set target of 75% local content on their shelves
17 May '05
5 min read
The Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu) is planning mass action against South African retailers after the Competition Commission found that there would be no competition concerns should retailers sign the proposed code of conduct tabled by the union at the National Development Labour Council (Nedlac).
In a recent advisory opinion, the Competition Commission informed Cosatu that there would be no concerns should retailers sign the code, which provides for clothing stores to set a target of 75% local content for clothing products on their shelves.
The union federation said it asked the commission to respond to concerns raised by retailers that signing the code may be in breach of the Competition Act, particularly the provisions relating to prohibited horizontal practices.
In October last year, Cosatu tabled a demand at Nedlac requesting that retailers sign a code that, inter alia, would commit them to a 75% local content target, and secure their support to combat illegal imports and contraventions of legal minimum wages and working conditions at supplier factories.
The Cosatu demand was in the form of a notice under Section 77 of the Labour Relations Act, which gives a trade union or a federation of trade unions the right to initiate socio-economic protest action if the matter is not resolved at Nedlac.
Cosatu on Wednesday said that it will now issue a Section 77 1(d) notice, in which the federation has to give at least14 days' notice of the start of a programme of mass action.
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