The Cry of the Xcluded was launched by South African Federation of Trade Unions (SAFTU), the Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union (AMCU) and the Assembly of the Unemployed (AoU) on 12 February 2020 to unite the working class – employed and unemployed – in the struggle for jobs, services, and dignity.
This is our Cry:
We built South Africa with our hard work, land, our hardship. Yet today we suffer the indignity of not knowing how we will feed our children. The threat of retrenchments hangs over our heads.
Many say there is not enough money, or South Africa just cannot afford basic services or jobs, that companies have to retrench workers to survive. This is a lie.
South Africa is a wealthy country, the problem is that this wealth has been taken by the few at the expense of the many. The Cry of the Xcluded is workers, employed and unemployed, all those of us who are at the bottom of this food chain saying “Make South Africa #WorkForUs.”
We want to work, and there’s lots of #workforus to do. People need houses, we still have not eradicated mud schools, we need a serious publicly owned renewable energy programme, our hospitals are in dire need of improvements. Everyday we see the possibilities and the wealth. Yet the government and big business refuse to come to the party. The Cry is us saying it can no longer be business as usual. We will take this campaign to every corner of the country in order to to build a South Africa that can #WorkForUs
We have power. We are the majority. South Africa cannot work without us. We have answers to our problems. We want economic power so we can live with dignity.
Now it’s time for us to rise up! It’s time to unite and make South Africa #WorkForUs.
Join us in this Campaign for a South Africa that #WorkForUs.