The Federation of Unions of South Africa (Fedusa) on Sunday called for a moratorium on retrenchments amid the level three restrictions.
The union said while it welcomed the extended restrictions as a tool to curb the spread of the coronavirus, they were concerned about the effect on the tourism, personal care, entertainment and hospitality sectors.
These sectors are still reeling from the effects of levels four and five.
The organisation said companies must consider all possible avenues instead of continuously using workers as scapegoats.
Fedusa said the adjusted level three by government was a “bittersweet” move in the light of the hardships being experienced by its members.
The federation of unions said that hundreds of thousands of jobs have been lost due to the pandemic both in the formal and informal sectors.
The union’s president Riefdah Ajam said government’s stimulus package also failed to deliver the silver bullet that many had put their hopes on, with inadequate results.
“The loan guarantee scheme and tax relief measures have yet to deliver results that were promised, considering that only R50 billion of the R200 billion commitment to [small, medium and micro enterprises] were provided.”
Fedusa said large scale retrenchments would leave many families financially paralysed.
