unions oppose pay subsidies
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Not exactly sure how much of their opposition is based on the fact that COSATU is aligned with the ruling party ANC but nevertheless this item caught my eye as COSATU opposition to governments subsidising wages seem to reflect the SPGB position that it leads to a general wage reduction for all workers.
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/2012/05/15/241396/south-africa-union-opposition-clash/
The Democratic Alliance was marching to demand government wage subsidies for young people, which the party says will create over 400,000 jobs…Cosatu opposes the subsidy, arguing that the subsidies will encourage companies to lower all wages. More detail here
We know our scepticism of minimum or living wage demands which (perhaps not fully the issue here but definitely related) often make us unpopular so perhaps it is useful to have something to use as a source to defend our position.
http://socialismoryourmoneyback.blogspot.com/2012/05/living-wage.htmlhttp://socialismoryourmoneyback.blogspot.com/2012/03/living-wage.html Needless to say, we won’t turn around to someone on the minimum wage that he should not fight for a rise in it, to say the levels of a living wage, nor will we say to the person on a living wage that they should not demand a re-definition of what makes a living wage a living wage. Just as we do NOT tell workers NOT to fight for higher wages and better conditions in their contracts. BUT we do say none of those ultimately solves anything for the wage-slave. It appears in South Africa, though, the debate on whether businesses should be given a subsidy for each young worker hired has taken on a different and perhaps a party political aspect. In statuatory minimum/living wages the subsidy is to the capitalist class as a whole, not individual enterprises.
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