South Africa is an emerging economy in the global market and, like most third world countries, is facing economic problems involving unemployment, inflation and economic inequality which is was exacerbated by the apartheid regime. Using fiscal policy, the government has over the years sought to address these key issues affecting South Africa's economy and people. Progress has been made, but various unions have actively opposed government policy, most often calling for a more radical stance towards government policies. Trade unions such as COSATU and NAMSU play an important role in the South African economic and political sphere. Acting as advocates for their members, they negotiate on their behalf to ensure fair pay, labor standards and government policies. In most cases this brings them at loggerheads with the government as they argue about the negative effects of government policies proposed to their members. It has been argued that unions pursue a fringe agenda that focuses exclusively on their own members and neglects non-unionized, often poorer, individuals. The purpose of this paper is to evaluate the alleged lack of financial sustainability of these alternative union proposals, as well as the economic implications of the aforementioned union suggestions, including their effectiveness in cultivating economic growth and economic inclusion. This will be achieved by identifying the problems that major tax policies attempt to address, union alternatives to these and comparing the general applicability and effectiveness in addressing these mentioned problems. This paper will mainly focus on tax subsidies and taxation for young people. Economic growth is defined as the central point of politics. However, government policy on taxation is more applicable as a progressive tax would have negative effects on the growth of the economy and would have unintended negative effects. In conclusion, the unions' proposals will support economic inclusion but will not enable economic growth as there is a trade-off between equality and economic growth. Works Cited http://www.ebrd.com/downloads/research/transition/tr13e.pdf) http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/+/http: //www.advantagewm.co.uk/Images/ AWM%20Economic%20Inclusion%20Policy_tcm9-9747.pdfhttp://www.cosatu.org.za/show.php?ID=8479#sthash.d5MCcqP6.dpufhttp:// www.anc.org.za/docs/discus/ 2013/youthsubsidyq.pdfhttp://www.philadelphiafed.org/research-and-data/publications/working-papers/2003/wp03-15.https://heartland. org/policy-documents/research-commentary-progressive-taxation