The South African Federation of Trade Unions (Saftu) says the proposed National Minimum Wage Bill indicates "a ferocious declaration of war" on the working class which will "entrench poverty".
Members of Saftu and affiliated unions marched in a number of cities across the country including Johannesburg, Cape Town and Durban to protest against the proposed minimum wage of R20 an hour.
"Workers, in particular, are campaigning against a ferocious declaration of war by the ruling class of white monopoly capitalists, who are trying to get Parliament to pass new laws which will entrench poverty and threaten the workers' constitutional right to withdraw their labour," read a Saftu memorandum that was handed over to various government officials on Wednesday.
In Johannesburg, Numsa's acting national spokesperson Phakamile Hlubi-Majola said the union had joined the strike to reject government's proposed minimum of R20 an hour.
"This government is in power today because of the suffering of the working class. We are the ones who sacrificed ultimately in order for them to make it into power. For them to negotiate R20 per hour is a betrayal of workers and their families," she said.
"We are no longer willing to suffer high unemployment, poverty and inequality while CEOs take home fat paychecks."
Hlubi-Majola said the unions were also voicing their concerns about government's proposed amendments to the labour bill which "would effectively make it impossible" to strike.
"These processes are designed to frustrate trade unions so that workers never go on strike," she said.
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