The Congress of South African Trade Unions, (Cosatu) General Secretary, Bheki Ntshalintshali has challenged the banking sector to consider the plight of the thousands of employees who face retrenchments within the sector.
A total shutdown is scheduled for Friday by the more than 40 000 members of the South African Society of Bank Officials (Sasbo).
He says the banking sector continues to make money, so there’s no reason for people to be retrenched when unemployment is at its highest.
Ntshalintshali spoke to the media on the sidelines of the South African Democratic Teachers Union’s ( Sadtu) 9th National Congress in Nasrec south of Johannesburg.
“The banks are not in a financial crisis. They are still making a lot of profit. They are replacing people with machines. So, there has to be something that needs to be done in that direction. You can’t have it both and just replace people. They are not paying people enough and they are not contributing to the economy. So, they should stop being crybabies. They are not paying high comparative tax.”
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