The situation at Marikana deserves urgent attention and all parties convened by the Minister of Labour; Minister Mildred Oliphant, today agreed that a lot more effort needs to be undertaken to bring about peace and stability and Lonmin.

The meeting held at Rustenburg's Civic Centre today, brought together the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM), the Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union (AMCU), Solidarity, UASA, FEDUSA, National Council of Trade Unions (NACTU) and Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU) and Lonmin management.

All the parties agreed that urgent steps need to be taken to facilitate the normalisation of the situation.

The following process was agreed to by the parties:

• The conclusion of a peace accord by all parties with the first meeting scheduled for Wednesday August 29, 2012. This will be facilitated by the Department of Labour.
• Upon conclusion of a peace accord, the parties will start engaging on the demands raised by the workers and how they would be accommodated within the framework of existing collective bargaining arrangements.

The Minister, Mildred Oliphant thanked all the parties for honouring the invitation saying this was a reason to be hopeful. She further called on the parties to consider option to ensure an all-inclusive collective bargaining framework and called on workers to go back to work.

"All the parties demonstrated willingness and resolved to see a quick and lasting resolution to this problem. They also want to see the country healed from recent tragic events and for all of us to move forward together, and may our people find peace and solace in the efforts that we all are making in resolving the current impasse" said the Minister.

UASA is 100% in agreement with finance minister Pravin Gordhan statements on the culture of waste and corruption that has taken hold of South Africa  – we are ready to work alongside him to prevent this culture from spreading even further.

The trade union UASA is shocked at the steep petrol price hike coming into effect next Wednesday.

Statement by Jacques Hugo, CCO of UASA:

The trade union UASA supports National Planning Minister Trevor Manuel in his quest for a more transparent, effective and productive civil service.

The South African Confederation of Trade Unions (SACOTU) noted with utter shock the events at the Lonmin mine in Marikana last week.  Both SACOTU federations, namely the Federation of Unions of South Africa (FEDUSA) and National Council of Trade Unions (NACTU) have had in-depth deliberations over the weekend and agreed to call for stricter regulation to avoid future negative repercussions.

Statement by André Venter, spokesperson of UASA:

Until South Africa finds a healthy balance between struggling state hospitals and frequently overcharging private hospitals and medical institutions, we shouldn’t be too surprised to hear the loud objections of health professionals in the private sector.

Statement by André Venter, spokesperson of UASA:

The tragedy of the deaths of 10 people at Lonmin could well indicate the beginning of the end for Cosatus’ slogan One industry one union.

The trade union UASA is delighted about the Reserve Bank’s monetary policy committee to cut interest rates with 0,5%.

Government’s apparent insensitivity towards the plight of the South African tax payer and the country’s poor has once again been demonstrated by its plans to buy a R2,1 billion jet to transport President Zuma, says Koos Bezuidenhout, CEO of the trade union UASA.

UASA celebrates the considerable drop in the petrol price coming into effect at midnight tomorrow.

The trade union UASA vehemently opposes the ANC’s proposed plans to push private pension and life assurance money into state enterprises and development finance instruments.

We have said it before and will repeat it now: Hands off our personal savings!

Award winning economist Mike Schüssler presented this year’s UASA Employment Report (11^th) to the media and the public on 4 May 2012.

We are highly disappointed that AIDC and a few other individuals chose to discredit UASA and Schussler by making certain inaccurate assumptions and statements about the report which, as usual, has been consistent with the aim of UASA – namely that we wish to stimulate debate towards finding solutions to poverty and unemployment in the country.

UASA welcomes the ruling by the Constitutional Court in respect of trade unions that will be held accountable for damage to property during strike action.

Just short of 400 representative of trade unions from across the globe have called on governments to undertake a process of profound change in all areas of economic life, thus defending the sustainability of the planet, its inhabitants and future generations at the Second Trade Union Assembly on Labour and Environment which was held in Rio de Janeiro this week.

The expected drop of 54c per litre in the fuel price next Wednesday will bring much needed and welcome relief for workers who have to make use of private transport to get to work and back on a daily basis.