Sowetan Newest.jpg COSATU says no to sex in the office Moipone Malefane, Political Editor, Sowetan, 28 November 2015 COSATU wants to discourage union leaders and officials from becoming sexually involved with their subordinates - given the unequal power relations. This is contained in the discussion document on procedure for handling, prevention and elimination of sexual harassment prepared for the federation's four-day congress that starts today. Zingiswa Losi.jpg COSATU wants its workers to familiarise themselves with its sexual harassment policy before engaging in consensual relationships. "Both parties have the responsibility to ascertain consent, particularly those in the position of power. "They must ensure that consent is explicitly and clearly communicated before proceeding with any form of sexual relationship," the document reads. Yesterday, the federation's second deputy president Zingiswa Losi admitted there were several sexual harassment cases but they were not documented because they were not reported. She said junior employees feared losing their jobs, while some women were married and did not want to lose their husbands. Vavi COSATU was caught up in a difficult situation when then general secretary Zwelinzima Vavi had sex with a junior employee at its offices. The federation at the time did not have a clear sexual harassment policy. COSATU's national leaders came under fire in July at the federation's special congress when women raised concerns about how the woman who had had sex with Vavi was not given a fair hearing. In the document, COSATU admitted it recognises that sexual harassment was a manifestation of power relations. "This means that COSATU and its members need to actively address unequal gender power relations and the manifestation of patriarchy within the federation, where leadership remains dominated by men." The federation raised concerns that in cases in which victims spoke out they often suffered emotional and psychological stress resulting from lack of support. The document deals with guiding principles that the federation should follow when dealing with a sexual harassment case. These include confidentiality; that employment security of the complainant be guaranteed; that the employee be protected against victimisation; and that the complainant be treated fairly while the alleged perpetrator would be treated as innocent until found otherwise. "The right of the complainant to institute civil action against the alleged perpetrator is in no way limited by this policy." The delegates would also look at a maternity protection policy that calls for six month's leave with full pay. It wants additional paid leave for antenatal care and postnatal medical care for the mother, including nutrition and transport programmes. Currently many companies have full maternity benefits for three to four months. The law states that maternity leave is provided and regulated under the Basic Conditions of Employment Act, and female workers are entitled to at least four consecutive months leave. However, it is not a requirement that employers pay workers during maternity leave. Apart from electing a new leadership, other policies to be debated include fighting retrenchments, safety of workers in the workplace, growing membership, and implementation of the national minimum wage. From: <http://www.sowetanlive.co.za/news/2015/11/28/cosatu-says-no-to-sex-in-the-o ffice> http://www.sowetanlive.co.za/news/2015/11/28/cosatu-says-no-to-sex-in-the-of fice -- -- You are subscribed. This footer can help you. Please POST your comments to [email protected] or reply to this message. You can visit the group WEB SITE at http://groups.google.com/group/yclsa-eom-forum for different delivery options, pages, files and membership. To UNSUBSCRIBE, please email [email protected] . You don't have to put anything in the "Subject:" field. You don't have to put anything in the message part. All you have to do is to send an e-mail to this address (repeat): [email protected] . --- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "YCLSA Discussion Forum" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
