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- COSATU Today -
Our side of the story
Tuesday 30 June 2009
Contents
1 Workers' news
1.1 General Motors South Africa loses a retrenchment case to NUMSA again
1.2 COSATU Mpumalanga supports SATAWU campaign against racism
2 South Africa
2.1 Moeletsi Mbeki's comments on unions condemned
2.2 NUM regrets Mbeki's pathetic criticism
2.3 CEPPWAWU rejects petrol price hike
2.4 COSATU welcomes SABC Board dissolution
2.5 YCLSA mourns Bajabulele Masombuka
2.6 COSATU commends Confed Cup success
2.7 COSATU Education and Skills Conference, 1-3 July 2009
1 Workers' news
<http://www.numsa.org.za/>
1.1 General Motors South Africa loses a retrenchment case to NUMSA again
Alex Mashilo, NUMSA's Spokesperson, 29 June 2009
Today, Monday 29 June 2009 in the Durban Labour Court Honourable Justice Van Niekerk delivered a judgement on the interpretation of the judgement handed down on 17 June 2009 in Johannesburg Labour Court on the matter of retrenchments brought about by NUMSA against the worse employer in the South African automotive industry, General Motors South Africa (GMSA).
On 17 June 2009 Johannesburg Labour Court found that the retrenchments initiated by GMSA during April were procedurally unfair. The Labour Court ordered that it shall determine the amount of compensation to which the retrenched workers are entitled.
Following this judgement NUMSA initiated a process to ensure that all the affected employees regardless whether they were on Short Term Contracts (STCs) or permanent receive fair compensation. GMSA challenged NUMSA's interpretation, wanting to exclude from compensation about 180 retrenched workers on the basis that they were on STCs or retrenched after April 2009. As a result the matter had to go back to the Labour Court.
Again the Labour Court in Durban today found that the retrenchments initiated by GMSA after April were procedurally unfair. The Labour Court ruling also clears the way for NUMSA to seek compensation for STC workers who were unfairly retrenched by GMSA. The total number of employees for whom NUMSA will be seeking fair compensation is approximately 460. The union will from tomorrow, 30 June 2009 embark on this process.
NUMSA wants to ensure that retrenched workers are compensated the amount not less than the wages they would have earned had they not been retrenched. In addition, the union wants members to be compensated for all the losses they individually incurred as a result of GMSA's retrenchment spree.
NUMSA shall pursue GMSA to the end. We hope that other employers will learn a good lesson out of this.
1.2 COSATU Mpumalanga supports SATAWU campaign against racism
Fidel Mlombo, COSATU Mpumalanga Provincial Secretary, 30 June 2009
COSATU in Mpumalanga supports the South African Transport and Allied Workers Union in their fight against racism. SATAWU embarks on this struggle and campaign at a time when workers are exploited on a daily basis at the workplace, at a time when workers in the farms are evicted and killed by their employers, at a time when employers refuse to respect the laws and legislations governing our country, at a time when employers refuse openly to respect the labor laws of this country. They deliberately undermine any piece of legislation from the democratic government.
The most vulnerable workers in this country still work more than ten hours a day; security personnel are made to work long hours under unbearable conditions worse than the conditions experienced under the apartheid South Africa. The capitalists in this county exploit the vulnerability of illegal immigrants; they abuse them in the name of profit accumulation, they subject them to slavery conditions in the farms and security industries in this country. They use these workers worse than the slaves and keep them in concentration camps fit for pigs and wild animals.
While the rest of South African citizens enjoy a free, democratic, united, non racial and non sexist South Africa, workers are dying every day at the hands of their employers, workers are made to be the drawers of water and hewers of wood in the land of their birth; farm workers are evicted nearly everyday without any pay or benefit for the many years they spent working in the farms to make their employers millionaires and filthy rich pigs.
COSATU has been consistent in the past fifteen years calling for the transformation of the judiciary. Commonly the racist perpetrators hardly get punished after committing these racist crimes because our judicial system is still control by the white racist apartheid generals. These white criminals control our police; they control our courts; they control our judges; they manipulate our laws to favor their racist criminal tendencies. They use our own system and institutions to promote the rape of our women; they physically abuse our people, murder them and pretend to have mistaken them for baboons and dogs and walk free. They shoot at our members during strike actions in the name of Law and Order; they arrest and victimize union leaders in the name of Law and Order.
Enough is enough! COSATU in Mpumalanga vows to mobilize all its members and affiliates, to mobilize the Alliance in the Province in the fight against racism. We fully support the campaign by our affiliate SATAWU and will spare no efforts in ensuring that the evil of racism is uprooted and destroyed.
COSATU again calls for the transformation of the judiciary, for the Department of Labour to be strengthened and given resources to be able to enforce all the labour legislation in this country.
COSATU supports all the protest marches by SATAWU members to be held around the province as from tomorrow 30 June 2009 when a protest march will be held in Secunda.
2 South Africa
2.1 Moeletsi Mbeki's comments on unions condemned
Patrick Craven, COSATU National Spokesperson, 29 June 2009
It is with great sadness that COSATU is obliged to condemn the remarks about trade unions and their leadership made by Moeletsi Mbeki in his book, 'Architects of Poverty'.
COSATU has had a very long friendship with Moeletsi Mbeki and appreciates his contribution to the struggles of the workers over many years. The comments in his book, however are factually incorrect and profoundly insulting towards trade union leaders who have devoted their lives to serving the workers' movement
The basis of his argument against COSATU is that its leaders are ignorant and uneducated. He says that "they have no leadership. Cosatu lost their leaders in 1994. The unions are left with leaders who have no education, no knowledge, no expertise. That's why the poor are being ripped off... they don't understand the political economy of SA".
He goes on to claim that "they think they can ingratiate themselves with the politicians of the ANC, so in the past four years they have been crawling to Jacob Zuma, thinking that they will use him. But Zuma has ignored them once he got into power. He ignored them and privatised Vodacom."
The reality is that, despite the fact that the majority of workers were deliberately denied educational opportunities under apartheid, the trade union movement has itself been a great university, in which workers struggled to understand the world and how it can be changed for the better. Many thousands emerged eventually as fine worker intellectuals. They should never be condemned for failing to obtain academic qualifications at universities from which they were excluded.
This is borne out by the fact that so many trade unionists were able to move into important positions in government and industry after 1994. But the unions continued to produce leaders with insight and understanding from then up to today. Many union officials and leaders are still studying and qualifying, often in difficult circumstances, at the very highest academic level.
Mbeki's comments about the federation's relationship with Jacob Zuma are also completely wide of the mark. While most other commentators go to the opposite extreme and, incorrectly, talk about COSATU dictating to the government, Mbeki makes the preposterous claim that the President has completely ignored the unions. Both these extreme views are false.
COSATU has exercised great influence on the direction of ANC's Polokwane policies and is now participating in helping the government and the ANC to implement those. But neither side is dictating to the other. It is a healthy, democratic collaboration in which powerful but independent bodies are working together to transform our society, create jobs and eliminate poverty.
That is democracy in action and Mbeki ought to be applauding the new atmosphere of transparency and open debate which is thriving at the present time.
COSATU regret that Mbeki's obvious personal dislike of President Zuma and his allies, including COSATU, has warped his vision. He stopped being independent when he took a personal view when his brother was dismissed as President and can no longer be treated as an independent political commentator but someone with a personal grudge.
<http://www.num.org.za/>
2.2 NUM regrets Mbeki's pathetic criticism
Lesiba Seshoka, NUM Media & Communications, 29 June 2009
The National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) is appalled by Moeletsi Mbeki's views on trade union leadership as it appeared inside a Sunday newspaper.
The NUM believes his comments in arguing that the trade union movement has no leadership, no education, no knowledge and expertise are regrettable and unfortunate coming from someone trade unions have always held in high esteem.
On leadership, it is totally incorrect to argue that the union movement lost leadership in 1994 when the bulk of leadership in this country continues to be drawn from the union movement itself.
It is yet to be known what yardstick Mbeki uses to measure leadership, knowledge and expertise as he argues. Trade unions are not in the business of entrepreneurship but are there to protect workers and ensure that the playing field is leveled for the working class.
Mbeki must clarify to the South African public what he means by saying that the union leadership has "no education". If by education, he means a PhD in economics, then he must know that the bulk of our members who come through the ranks from the shop floor have not been as lucky as himself ,who managed to study while people were fighting apartheid and dying in the country.
As a matter of fact, the majority of the leaders in the unions studied to varying degrees and under very trying circumstances. Trade Unions are not universities to be run by Chancellors with strings of foreign qualifications and theory that still needs to be translated into practice.
The NUM believes that Mbeki's objectivity have been shaded and tainted by personal grudges of his brother's recall from the Presidency. Whilst he himself never ran a trade union and displays an incoherent understanding of trade unionism, his analysis displays that lack of knowledge and education on trade unionism and ignorance on the role that unions had played and continue to play in the country under the stewardship of the leaders he argues have no leadership.
2.3 CEPPWAWU rejects petrol price hike
Thabane Mdlalose, CEPPWAWU Deputy General Secretary, 29 June 2009
The Chemical, Energy, Paper, Printing, Wood and Allied Workers Union (CEPPWAWU) is worried about the Petrol Price hike which will be effected on Wednesday 1st July 2009 and coincide with the wage dispute meeting.
The Petrol Price hike comes on the aftermath of the announcement by the National Energy Regulator of South Africa (NERSA) to grant Eskom 31,1% electricity tariff increases, and the failure by the Governor of Reserve Bank to cut interests rates. As CEPPWAWU we remain perturbed because it is very clearly that the people who are going to be affected most with this are workers and the poor. This Petrol Price increase also take place on the midst of the massive job losses brought about by the current global economic meltdown.
We are currently facing resistant from the employers in the wage negotiations with regard to Wages Increases, Shift Allowances and Maternity Leave. What is more disturbing to us is that this Petrol Price hike takes place at the time when International oil prices are fairly low. We believe that this Petrol Prices are unjustifiable, given the current economic situation we finds ourselves in.
We are therefore calling upon the Minister of Energy to convene an urgent stakeholder's meeting which will include government, labour and civil society to discuss this issue in detail in order to rescue the workers and the poor in this trying time.
2.4 COSATU welcomes SABC Board dissolution
Patrick Craven, COSATU National Spokesperson, 29 June 2009
COSATU has congratulated Parliament's Communications Portfolio Committee on its wise decision to ask the National Assembly to dissolve the SABC board and appoint an interim board. We agree with MPs that dissolution is "in the interests of both the public broadcaster and the country".
COSATU, and its allies in the Save our SABC Coalition, have argued since the dissolved board was first appointed in December 2007 that it was illegitimately appointed, for factional political motives, and that it was grossly unrepresentative of South African society, dominated by business representatives and with no-one from the labour movement.
The Board's record was a total disaster, with ongoing disputes with senior staff, a financial meltdown which led to a R834 million deficit, allegations of corruption, non-payment of independent programme producers and workers not being paid increases agreed upon with the unions.
COSATU also congratulates the Department of Communications for its prompt response in agreeing to appoint the Interim Board without delay. We urge that the majority of the five members of the Interim Board, and the majority of the next full board, must be representative of civil society, including the trade unions.
As well as resolving the immediate financial and management crisis at the SABC, the Interim Board must begin the task of transforming the corporation, which must then be taken up and completed by the new permanent board.
To this end we support the call for government to change the Broadcasting Act so that more government funds can be made available for the SABC so that it is less dependent on advertising revenue. This inevitably leads to commercialisation and to big business, advertisers and sponsors having too much influence over the Corporation. It leads to the huge imbalance in the large amount of coverage to business issues relative to the puny coverage of labour matters.
This must change and the SABC must honour its mandate to be a genuine voice of all the people of South Africa.
2.5 YCLSA mourns Bajabulele Masombuka
Castro Ngobese, YCLSA National Spokesperson, 29 June 2009
The Young Communist League of South Africa [uFasimba] mourns the death of Bajabulele Masombuka, the host of popular SABC 1 show Ses'khona.
We take this opportunity to dip our red banners and pay homage to this young heroine and a product of the apartheid and Bantu created working class slums.
We extend our deepest and profound condolences to the Masombuka family and to her colleagues in the entertainment industry. Her departure from our midst is not only a loss to her family, but it is also a loss to the millions of working class and poor young people who we were inspired by her persona and sizzling talent.
We applaud her for sharing her talent and life with working class and poor young people in the midst of socio-economic challenges of joblessness, hunger, HIV/AIDS infections and academic exclusions faced by the majority of poor young South Africans.
Her death should propel us as the working class and the poor youth to fight and demand a truly public broadcaster - the SABC - whose programmes caters for the interests and aspirations of young people as opposed to the whims and dictates of the capitalist market.
We call upon the SABC to honour Masombuka and flights relevant and informed programmes that respond to the pressing challenges and aspirations of young people.
2.6 COSATU commends Confed Cup success
Patrick Craven, COSATU National Spokesperson, 29 June 2009
COSATU has congratulated FIFA, the Local Organising Committee and everyone else involved in organising the Confederations Cup tournament. It was a brilliant success which proved beyond all doubt that South Africa is completely capable of hosting the 2010 World Cup. The prophets of doom have been answered.
COSATU also congratulates Bafana Bafana on their much improved performance in reaching the semi-finals and losing only narrowly to Brazil and Spain, two of the world's top teams.
Important lessons have been learned, which should enable us to iron out some of the outstanding problems in the eleven months before the first ball is kicked. We have to improve both the transport arrangements, to get the fans to and from the stadiums, and the ticket-distribution system so that enough tickets at an affordable price are available for South Africans so that they can make sure that every seat at every match is sold.
COSATU calls upon all its members and all South Africans to play their part by buying tickets, filling the stadiums and making all our thousands of guests from overseas a great South African welcome.
2.7 COSATU Education and Skills Conference, 1-3 July 2009
Crystal Dicks, COSATU Education Secretary, 25 June 2009
'Forward to Education and Skills Development for Working Class Power!'
COSATU invites you to its Education and Skills Conference, to be held on 1-3 July 2009 at the Parktonian Hotel, De Korte Street, Braamfontein. It will be attended by 250 delegates from affiliated unions, alliance partners, labour education institutions and government departments. The conference will be an opportunity to:
§ Radically appraise government's current education, training and skills trajectory and how these have served workers and the poor.
§ Critically review and evaluate the effectiveness of the Federation's policies, engagements and strategies in the macro education, training and skills arena, and what the cost of these have been.
§ Reassess how far we've come and where we are given the current economic climate in relation to ensuring that macro education, training and skills developments are driving an aggressive agenda that serves the working class and the poor.
§ Begin to develop a less fragmented and more coordinated strategy that ensures a clear, working class bias for future engagements and developments in the macro education, training and skills landscape.
§ Lay the foundations for developing a comprehensive response to a range of education, training and skills challenges facing the working class, for the Cosatu 10th Congress and beyond.
For full details please contact Crystal Dicks (COSATU Education Secretary)
Tel: 011 339-4911/24
Fax: 011 339-5080/6940
Mobile: 084 732 4643
E-Mail: crys...@cosatu.org.za <mailto:crys...@cosatu.org.za>
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