Members of the National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa (NUMSA) in the aviation and bus passenger sector, will on Wednesday morning embark on a march to the offices of the Unemployment Insurance Fund (UIF) in Pretoria.
They are demanding the immediate payment of outstanding COVID-19 Temporary Employer-Employee Relief Scheme (TERS) claims. NUMSA spokesperson Phakamile Majola- Hlubi says their members in various companies are suffering because of the failure by UIF officials to properly process their claims.
“Thousands of workers and their families have had to endure the lockdown without getting regular TERS payments and the UIF is seemingly unable or unwilling to resolve the crisis. It is a disgrace that the minister of employment and labour should continue to enjoy his salary and benefits, when workers who fall directly under this portfolio, have not been paid for months because of the failure of the UIF to pay TERS regularly and efficiently.”
We demand that TERS relief money be paid NOW. Workers are fed up with the corruption and incompetence at the UIF. Minister Thulas Nxesi why are u so quiet? #TERSProtest
.@NxesiThulas
.@IrvinJimSA
.@SAFTU_media pic.twitter.com/mAbPWdSQZW— NUMSA (@Numsa_Media) August 25, 2021
We are headed to the offices of the UIF in the capital city in Pretoria to demand our money. They must pay out TERS money immediately!@UIFBenefits
.@NxesiThulas#TersProtest
.@IrvinJimSA
.@SAFTU_media pic.twitter.com/9NvuAyfwdJ— NUMSA (@Numsa_Media) August 25, 2021
Meanwhile, three-thirds of the estimated 3 million workers who lost their jobs following the total shut down of the economy to limit the spread COVID-19 pandemic last year were women.
A leading global gender expert made the startling revelation at a webinar hosted by trade union NUMSA’s Gender Unit as part of Women’s Month earlier this month.
In the United State of America, the Gender Pay Gap is at 16%. It’s also at 16% in the United Kingdom, 14% in Australia. The world average is 20%, including South Africa.
Dr Jane Pillinger, a global expert on gender inequality, says the Gender Wage Gap is a form of gender-based violence.
The Gender Pay Gap measures the difference between what men are paid in various industries and the workforce in general compared to women.
It doesn’t take into account instances where men are paid more for doing the same job as a woman at a workplace.
Mostly women lost their jobs due to Covid-19 total shutdown:
