Zwelinzima Vavi, General Secretary of Cosatu has requested the SA Clothing and Textile Workers Union (Sactwu) members to help them either prevent Wal-Mart from acquiring Massmart, or to compel the former to accept all the conditions which would safeguard the domestic textile sector, workers and the country's economy.
The Cosatu official made this appeal while addressing the delegates who were in Durban to attend Sactwu's two-day national bargaining conference.
Vavi forewarned that if Massmart is taken over by Walmart, then this would have severe implications on the country's clothing industry.
He explained that, if Walmart arrives in SA, it would spend extensively on advertisements, which would badly hit domestic stores like Woolworths and may result in layoffs.
Also, several workers working in retail shops may loose their jobs, as these outlets may fail to withstand competition with Wal-Mart, which would ultimately lead to reduced revenues for the SA government, as lesser amount would flow into the country's treasury by way of taxes, he added.
Vavi stated that, Cosatu desires that Wal-Mart should consent to some of their conditions like; adhering to the domestic labour laws, procuring 75 of the raw material requirements from domestic markets and pay better wages to the workers.
He charged Wal-Mart for procuring low-cost materials from other countries which have a tarnished image of exploiting workers.
Fibre2fashion News Desk - India
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