Cosatu has another go at forming workers’ bank
Move is meant to ensure that workers have access to credit facilities, for which they often do not qualify at SA's four major banks
Trade union federation Cosatu has resuscitated a former resolution to establish a workers’ bank, in a move that could shake up existing ownership patterns in the financial sector. The move is meant to ensure that workers have access to credit facilities, for which they often do not qualify at the country’s four major banks. Several studies by the Public Service Commission have found that most public servants, who are mostly Cosatu members, are over-indebted and are not eligible for home loans. On Thursday, the federation announced that its central executive committee decided this week it should undertake research to explore the workers’ bank model. “This is our old resolution that is very necessary now that we are faced with an economic crisis. Workers have no say in how the current commercial banks should benefit society,” said Cosatu general secretary Bheki Ntshalintshali. The decision to form a workers’ bank stems from a 2009 Cosatu national congress at which it was resolved to p...
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