FRIday 1 july 2011
Contents
1 COSATU Central Committee <>
1.1 The battle for Cosatu
1.2 Cosatu fails leadership, economic policy tests
1.3 Cosatu puts key issues on back-burner
1.4 Cosatu sashays around elephants in the room
1.5 'Cosatu's head on block too'
1.6 Vavi's delicate dance with the ANCYL
1.7 Cosatu defers talks on ANC succession
1.8 Scathing attack on SACP ally
1.9 Cosatu's Vavi hits out at Manuel over planning commission report
2 Workers <>
2.1 Rainbow Chicken wage talks deadlocked
2.2 Rainbow 'punishing' strikers: FAWU
2.3 NUM: Eskom has 'tendency of non-consultation'
2.4 Union grows through white-collar members
3 South Africa <>
http://www.iol.co.za/logger/p.gif?a=1.1091639&d=/2.225/2.545/2.546
3.1 Patel delighted with Cosatu's growth path deferment
3.2 Cosatu labels Walmart as a threat
3.3 'Walmart thinks it's over but it's not'
4 Comment <>
4.1 Business needs Cosatu's Vavi
4.2 Seeking union relevance in a world in turmoil
4.3 Claim no easy victories
1 COSATU Central Committee
1.1 The battle for Cosatu
Matuma Letsoalo, Mandy Rossouw & Rapule Tabane, Mail & Guardian, 1 July 2011
The battle for Cosatu is balanced on a knife edge. This week its central
committee postponed key debates as various lobby groups pulled it in
different directions. The Blade Nzimande-led South African Communist Party
(SACP) tugged it to take a moderate and less critical stance towards
government policies and ANC president Jacob Zuma's leadership.
Pulling on the other side, Cosatu's general secretary, Zwelinzima Vavi,
stood accused of agitating for "regime change" as he went for broke,
criticising the government's new growth path and the planning commission's
diagnostic report.
The debates and divisions on the government's economic policies were also a
proxy war between those who want Cosatu to support the present top six ANC
leaders and those who, in tandem with the ANC Youth League, propose to
replace ANC secretary general Gwede Mantashe and Zuma with new leaders. The
labour federation is deeply divided about whether or not to support the
re-election of Zuma as ANC president next year.
Cosatu members attending the federation's central committee gathering, which
ended in Midrand on Thursday, agreed not to enter into an open debate on the
ANC succession issue. But the Mail & Guardian has learnt that, behind closed
doors, Cosatu leaders have expressed sharp differences on the issue.
At the end of the conference, Vavi said: "The central committee did not
engage in a potentially divisive ANC leadership debate but did issue a stark
warning to the government that if they are to retain popular support they
must stop dithering and zig-zagging, pull their socks up and start
implementing all the policies of the Polokwane conference and the 2009
elections, particularly in its five priority areas."
Avoiding tensions
On June 30, the last day of the conference, the federation was forced to
postpone a resolution on the national democratic revolution, with Vavi
arguing that the draft resolution was badly constructed.
But political observers believe this was a tactic by the Cosatu boss to
avoid open tensions between delegates. The fault lines seems to lie between
those in Cosatu who would like to see more radical change in the way the
government is run and others, like those affiliated to the SACP, who want
Cosatu to be less demanding.
The draft resolution also proposed that discussions on the 2012 leadership
succession in the ANC, SACP and Cosatu be put on hold. Numerous delegates
and leaders of affiliates who spoke to the Mail & Guardian painted a picture
of deep divisions across the federation.
They alleged that Nzimande and Cosatu president Sdumo Dlamini are leading a
group that supports Zuma's re-election, whereas Vavi and Irvin Jim, general
secretary of the National Union of Metal Workers South Africa (Numsa), lead
the group that is allegedly pushing for "regime change".
The National Education, Health and Allied Workers' Union (Nehawu), and parts
of the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) and teachers' union Sadtu support
Nzimande's group. The NUM is divided between Mantashe and Vavi, who both
hail from the mining fold. The NUM's general secretary, Frans Baleni,
supports a grouping in the ANC that is pushing for the re-election of
Mantashe as the party's secretary general next year.
But Baleni's deputy, Oupa Komane, supports Vavi and those who are deeply
unhappy with the status quo in the ANC.
Vavi's group is mainly supported by Numsa and the South African Municipal
Workers' Union (Samwu).
Baleni told the M&G: "My observation is that there are people who are
frustrated by some things that are not happening. We understand people are
frustrated with the slowness in which corruption is handled, but that does
not mean we should change the leadership."
Nationalisation
In Sadtu, divisions also exist because, sources say, president Thobile Ntola
prefers a radical Cosatu whereas general secretary Mgwena Maluleke is said
to be close to SACP leaders who are deployed in government.
According to a senior alliance leader, Nzimande was pushing hard to convince
Cosatu delegates to reject the ANCYL's campaign for leadership change and
policy proposals, particularly on the nationalisation of mines.
According to its secretariat report, Cosatu supports the demands for
nationalisation and understands it to mean that the state, acting on behalf
of all citizens, will take over companies and their resources and transfer
them to the people. This closely reflects the youth league view.
But former communications minister Siphiwe Nyanda told the plenary that
those who complained about the "new tendencies" -- Nzimande's codeword for
the youth leaders -- were implicitly opening the succession debate anyway.
It was decided to refer the debate on the resolution to the central
executive committee for a decision, which some say is a victory for Vavi's
group.
"If it is taken to the committee, it will allow Cosatu to discuss this
without interference from others like those in the SACP," an alliance source
said.
Senior alliance leaders, who spoke to the M&G on condition of anonymity,
believe Vavi's critical report on Zuma is an indication that he does not
want him to be re-elected as ANC president in 2012. It is believed Vavi
privately agrees with the youth league position on leadership and policy
issues.
"The fact that they don't want to open the leadership debate now is because
they want to see what Zuma does, so they don't nail their colours to the
mast yet. So he has a warning period for the next year and then they'll
decide," a delegate said.
Those unions still sticking with Zuma intends to use his vulnerability to
push the ANC into accepting that the alliance, instead of the party, must be
the strategic centre of power.
Several sources who attended the central committee meeting said although a
large chunk of the unions -- some grudgingly -- threw their support behind
Zuma for a second term as ANC president, they would hold him ransom by
insisting the alliance became the political centre.
Cosatu and the ANC have been in a ping-pong match since 2007 about where the
power should lie. The ANC claims power for itself because the ruling party
has the direct support of voters, whereas Cosatu feels the alliance should
be the centre where decisions get taken, ensuring leftist positions are
implemented by the government.
"We think we'll have to support Zuma but strengthen the institutions outside
government to deal with the indecisive leadership we have been subjected to.
Our support will, however, have conditions like clear time frames," a
unionist who attended the Cosatu meeting said.
"We want to introduce a debate about the alliance becoming the strategic
centre. That way decisions get taken by all of us and we can help where he
[Zuma] is indecisive," the source said.
Another Western Cape delegate told the M&G that having the ANC at the centre
of power served the interests of the bourgeoisie and neglected the working
class.
Nzimande also argued strongly for Zuma to be retained. "Blade said [Zuma] is
a product of us, all his ministers are products of Polokwane, so we would be
betraying our own victories if we don't support him again," a delegate said.
But not all unions are convinced that supporting Zuma is the best way to go.
Delegates have outlined why certain unions feel Zuma has not served their
interests:
. The Chemical, Energy, Paper, Printing, Wood and Allied Workers' Union
is "suffering" because of labour brokers;
. The South African National Defence Union is on the brink of being
disbanded after the Constitutional Court found it to be "unconstitutional";
and
. The South Africa Commercial, Catering and Allied Workers' Union is
unhappy about Walmart's unconditional entrance into the local market.
Meanwhile, the ANC in Gauteng said the reason it had also called for an open
contest is that the party could not afford to be spectators while Cosatu,
the SACP and the youth league were allowed to debate and decide who was fit
for the ruling party's leadership. ANC Gauteng spokesperson Nkenke Kekana
said the ANC was in shock before the Polokwane conference. "We cannot
survive another shock."
<http://mg.co.za/article/2011-07-01-the-battle-for-cosatu/>
http://mg.co.za/article/2011-07-01-the-battle-for-cosatu/
1.2 Cosatu fails leadership, economic policy tests
Review conference ducks difficult issues such as ANC succession
Sam Mkokeli, Business Day, 1 July 2011
THE Congress of South African Trade Unions' (Cosatu's) four-day review
gathering ended with a whimper yesterday, with its 800 delegates failing to
take a stand on key political issues.
The gathering opened on Monday with a promise to provide clear direction on
the African National Congress's (ANC's) leadership succession, but instead
postponed crucial debates to future meetings.
As a result of the central committee's failure to give guidance on key
policy issues, Cosatu affiliates will continue expressing conflicting
positions on contentious matters like the call to nationalise the country's
mines.
Powerful Cosatu affiliates such as the National Union of Mineworkers and the
National Metalworkers of SA differ on the issue of nationalisation.
While Cosatu leaders yesterday blamed staff for garbled reports from
breakaway commissions for the failure to pass key resolutions, this could be
an indication of divisions within the labour federation.
Reports from two commissions were rejected - suggesting disagreements during
discussions on leadership and other policy issues. Documents from
commissions that discussed socioeconomic issues and crucial leadership
questions were thrown out of yesterday's report-back session.
They would be discussed at Cosatu's central committee meetings and its
elective congress to be held in September next year.
Issues discussed in commissions included the question of whether the
national democratic revolution - the ANC's guiding philosophy - was on
track. Reports on that debate, and one on whether the ANC should have an
open leadership contest, were rejected at the gathering's plenary. A
preliminary report on Cosatu's economic policy flatly rejected the
government's New Growth Path, but was replaced with a document that welcomed
it as a start on which to build.
Cosatu general secretary Zwelinzima Vavi said at a news conference after the
gathering yesterday that the "content and style" of the two reports were a
problem. Mr Vavi sought to downplay the rejection of the commission reports.
He said Cosatu had a solid stand on key policy matters taken at previous
meetings. This included its views on the New Growth Path.
He said Cosatu had initially welcomed the Growth Path and called for it to
be tweaked. He said it "falls short of being a document we can declare as
being a comprehensive response" to the economy's structural problems.
Mr Vavi said it was not a "document we can rely upon. We are united around
that position."
He said the federation was not backing off from the tough talk and criticism
of the government on the first day of the gathering.
Cosatu would go ahead with its programmes - including launching Corruption
Watch, an independent body to investigate corruption tipoffs. It would be
launched in December and pass on information to prosecutors.
Mr Vavi said the federation was opposed to the opening of the succession
debate in the ANC . Early talk would divide the tripartite alliance, he
said.
Discussing the ANC leadership would get in the way of dealing with the
problem of poverty in SA, he said.
The ANC succession debate had the potential to discredit the ANC in the eyes
of the voters, who could be turned off from voting for the party in the 2014
elections, Mr Vavi claimed.
National Union of Mineworkers general secretary Frans Baleni said yesterday
it was not a crisis that there were no resolutions. "It is not the end of
the world."
He said the meeting had time constraints which had hampered sorting out key
differences.
National Union of Metalworkers of SA general secretary Irvin Jim said
affiliates had different views, which he considered healthy.
However, the federation decided to stick with the ANC alliance despite its
criticism of its functioning and especially the weak leadership of President
Jacob Zuma.
After discussing options for the federation - whose membership has grown
from 1,8-million to 2- million - it decided an alliance with the ANC was
still the best option.
A document presented for discussion by members gave them four scenarios to
discuss, including opting out of the alliance and for Cosatu to establish
itself as a political party. Mr Vavi said this week that a survey found most
members would not back Cosatu as a political party.
<http://www.businessday.co.za/articles/Content.aspx?id=147331>
http://www.businessday.co.za/articles/Content.aspx?id=147331
1.3 Cosatu puts key issues on back-burner
Carien du Plessis, INL, 1 July 2011
Cosatu ended its four-day central committee meeting on Thursday with a
declaration that avoided talk of "new tendencies" and "demagogues" and a
failure to agree on burning issues such as succession within the ANC and
what to do about socio-economic policies.
What was expected to be a heated plenary session to decide the labour
federation's position on whether ANC leaders in government were doing their
jobs was deferred to Cosatu's central executive committee due to meet behind
closed doors later this month.
Cosatu general secretary Zwelinzima Vavi on Thursday night denied the reason
for this was that the federation was divided.
"We insist we are united as an organisation, but we are not an organisation
that does not have a debate. There will always be discussions between
unions," Vavi said.
These discussions were to continue up until Cosatu holds its elective
congress next year, "but it doesn't signal in any way that Cosatu is not at
one", he said.
Vavi said the document that had emerged from the political commission on
Wednesday could not be discussed in plenary as it was "badly written" and
"did not reflect the rich discussions in the commission". Independent
Newspapers understands that these were quite heated.
The document broadly outlines a Cosatu battle plan to counter the ANC Youth
League's declared attempt to usurp Cosatu's role as the "vanguard of the
working class", and to kick off talks about the succession.
ANC national working committee member Siphiwe Nyanda, during the plenary,
slammed Cosatu for "contradictions" in the report, which called on alliance
members to put a lid on premature ANC succession talk, while also attacking
the "new tendency" gaining ground within the organisation ahead of the ANC's
elective congress in Mangaung in December next year .
Referring to this "new tendency" was in effect also talk about succession,
Nyanda told delegates.
Fellow ANC leader Tony Yengeni raised concerns that the ANC would be
excluded from discussions about Cosatu's political direction if the talks
took place in a closed central executive committee meeting. He was assured
that the party would be invited.
Sources present at the political commission that sat on Wednesday, and which
was the best-attended of all the commissions, said Cosatu affiliates were
divided over whether the national democratic revolution -- shorthand in the
alliance for eradicating poverty, unemployment and inequality - was on track
or not.
Some argued it was on track, because the government had put in place
programmes to address these problems, while others said the fact these
problems persisted was proof that the revolution had lost its way.
The commission also discussed the language Vavi had used in his secretariat
report - when he referred to malign "tendencies".
"Some reckoned this tendency of labelling people with tendencies was a
problem," one delegate said.
Cosatu has used the "new tendency" label to refer to ANCYL leader Julius
Malema and ANC leaders forming a "predatory elite" who are more interested
in lining their own pockets than improving conditions for all.
Cosatu has also adopted the SACP's label of "right-wing demagogues" to
describe Malema and his allies.
In the declaration adopted on Thursday afternoon and presented as the "sum
total" of its discussions, there was no reference to any of these labels.
Discussions about vexing socio-economic issues such as the expropriation of
land, the nationalisation of mines and the government's economic plan, the
New Growth Path, were also deferred.
The labour federation did adopt a resolution on its living wage campaign,
threatening mass action if its demands for higher wages for low-paid workers
were not met.
Unions are set to start with wage bargaining in the coming weeks.
<http://www.iol.co.za/news/politics/cosatu-puts-key-issues-on-back-bur....
1091870>
http://www.iol.co.za/news/politics/cosatu-puts-key-issues-on-back-bur...
091870
1.4 Cosatu sashays around elephants in the room
Natasha Marrian, SAPA/Mail & Guardian, 30 June 2011
Cosatu's central committee meeting closed on Thursday, with no resolutions
emerging on key political and economic issues.
Cosatu did not take decisions on whether or not to open talks on the ANC's
election of new leadership next year, or on the call for nationalisation or
land reform, which featured on its agenda for discussion.
The trade union federation deferred the talks to a leadership meeting in
August after the central committee ran out of time and documents emerging
from group discussions on the economy and politics were poorly written, said
general secretary Zwelinzima Vavi.
"The content and style ... that's why it wasn't discussed, it was going to
take us in 20 different directions," he told reporters at a media briefing
after the delegates were sent home.
Tendencypreneurship
Vavi was referring to the political document, the draft of which included
nationalisation, the succession debate, and the emergence of what Cosatu
termed a "new tendency" -- where people used political connections for their
own accumulation interests", adopting an "it's our turn to eat" stance.
"If we had time.. there would have been a discussion of all manner of
things," he said, adding that this included the issue of "demagogues" in the
movement.
The draft document read: "They rely on populist demagoguery politics to
allow them enough political space and power to push for their accumulation
agenda."
Cosatu earlier said this referred to some within the ANC Youth League.
"They seize and use popular working class issues to stir emotions of
unsuspecting and disgruntled sections of the working class in society when
their actual agenda is to secure power and use such power against the very
working class."
The resolution suggested this group was backed by "well-resourced and
powerful business and politicians".
Stay tuned
That it did not spell out how these developments should be dealt with was
part of the reason Vavi suggested that decisions on it be taken later.
Many delegates had also left before the end of the committee meeting, with
the hall only half full on Thursday.
On the socioeconomic resolutions, he said the committee had only 15 minutes
to deal with a matter of such importance.
Vavi said the fact that there were no resolutions on the difficult and
contested issued did not mean that there were divisions within the movement.
"Does that represent destructive debate or divisions? No," he said,
emphasising that Cosatu was an organisation with a culture of debate.
Cosatu president Sdumo Dlamini was also emphatic on the unity of the
organisation.
"This is unity of leadership," he said, with Cosatu's top leaders sitting
alongside him. "I'm saying that to dispel any myth of divisions."
Not quite out of their league
While Cosatu has raised the flag over the "new tendency" and "demagogues"
within the youth league, its stance on nationalisation and land reform are
similar to the league's.
It supports nationalisation as described in the Freedom Charter.
The federation's discussion documents on the matter also spell out the need
for nationalisation of the SA Reserve Bank, and the transport and
construction sectors.
Like the league, it supports expropriating private land and wants section 25
of the Constitution, the property clause, scrapped. Section 25 allows for
government's acquisition of land for redistribution, with compensation.
Cosatu's central executive committee would meet in August to thrash out the
unresolved issues.
'Stop dithering'
The federation also warned the ANC-led government to "stop dithering" and
pull up its socks.
"The central committee did not engage in potentially divisive ANC leadership
debate but did issue a stark warning to the government that if they are to
retain popular support they must stop dithering and zigzagging, pull their
socks up and start implementing policies of the Polokwane conference and the
2009 elections [manifesto]," said Vavi.
Government had to ensure that it delivered on jobs, addressing inequality
and tackling corruption as this was the yardstick which would be used to
measure at election time in 2014.
If the government failed to deliver, it would be at a "massive cost", said
Vavi.
<http://mg.co.za/article/2011-06-30-cosatu-sashays-around-the-elephant...
oom/>
http://mg.co.za/article/2011-06-30-cosatu-sashays-around-the-elephant...
om/
1.5 'Cosatu's head on block too'
Sibusiso Ngalwa and Moipone Malefane, Times, 1 July 2011
Cosatu has resolved not to abandon the ANC-led alliance, but warned that it
risked being "discredited" among workers if the ruling party failed to
deliver on its promises to the poor.
The labour federation's four-day central committee meeting, in Midrand,
failed to reach consensus on key policy and political issues, with clear
differences among leaders.
Important discussions of the contentious New Growth Path, land reform and
nationalisation of key sectors of the economy were deferred until August,
when Cosatu's central executive committee will meet behind closed doors to
iron out the differences.
Cosatu chose to steer clear of the ANC succession debate, arguing that
opening the discussion prematurely would distract the alliance from the
crucial responsibility of improving the lives of the poor.
Cosatu general secretary Zwelinzima Vavi told reporters yesterday the
federation would also be held responsible if the ANC government failed to
deliver.
"[ANC succession in] 2012 must be debated in that context, it can't be just
about the race for who is going to be the leader 18 months before the
[party's national] conference.
"That's divisiveness.
"Can we focus on ensuring that by the time we go to the 2014 [elections] we
can show [our people] that we have succeeded in implementing the five
priorities," he said.
Unemployment, poverty and inequality would be the main areas of
accountability on which the ANC government would be tested, said Vavi.
"Not that we will not evaluate leadership . but please, not now. Let's just
make sure we succeed in addressing the crisis of poverty and unemployment
and inequality. That's the crisis of South Africa and not anything else," he
said.
"Failure to do so [means] we all get discredited . not [just] the ANC .
including Cosatu, which has been asking the workers to go and vote for the
ANC. That is what we are trying to avoid at all costs."
Vavi said Cosatu remained convinced that the New Growth Path document was
not comprehensive in dealing with the needs of the working class.
The Cosatu meeting adopted a resolution to remain within the alliance,
saying other scenarios - abandoning the alliance or forming a new left-wing
political party - were not what the federation wanted.
However, it warned that failure of the alliance "remained a threat" because
workers were "disillusioned".
Cosatu president Sidumo Dlamini insisted that there were no differences
among the federation's leaders but rather democratic discussions that
allowed for differing opinions among Cosatu affiliates .
<http://www.timeslive.co.za/thetimes/2011/07/01/cosatu-s-head-on-block...>
http://www.timeslive.co.za/thetimes/2011/07/01/cosatu-s-head-on-block...
1.6 Vavi's delicate dance with the ANCYL
Matuma Letsoalo & Mandy Rossouw, Mail & Guardian, 1 July 2011
The relationship between Cosatu general secretary Zwelinzima Vavi and the
ANC Youth League may play a crucial role in Vavi's political career,
delegates at this week's central committee meeting told the Mail & Guardian.
In Vavi's secretariat report, he reminded delegates that he was reprimanded
last year by the Cosatu leadership when he announced that he would not be
available for re-election as the federation's leading official next year.
Sources close to Vavi say he is torn between the unions wanting to elect him
for another term as general secretary and demands from key ANC leaders who
want him to take the position of ANC chairperson. The latter is increasingly
seen as a position that will be strongly contested at the ANC's elective
conference in Mangaung in December 2012.
"All Cosatu unions want him back as general secretary, but there are
elements in the ANC that want him as national chairperson the comrades who
are tired of the corruption and who see him as willing to cross swords with
anyone," said a Vavi sympathiser in Cosatu.
"It is all still very casual at this stage, we don't know what will happen
next year. By July 2012, we'll have a clear idea," he said.
Vavi and Cosatu have fostered a closer relationship with the ANC Youth
League and its president Julius Malema, with the affiliation initially based
on shared views on certain policies.
In Vavi's secretariat report, presented this week to the federation's
central committee, Cosatu was less harsh than expected on the league.
"Despite the ANCYL's political inconsistency, such as support for huge
salaries and bonuses to leaders of state-owned enterprises, the youth league
on many other policy questions remains our ally," it said. "This includes
its stance on labour brokering, nationalisation, rejection of the youth wage
subsidy, strong support for the progressive elements of the Polokwane
resolutions and the manifesto."
The report called for Cosatu to continue to foster its relationship with the
league.
"It would be a mistake to allow a cooling-off of our relationship with the
ANCYL because its leaders still have to master the art of managing
disagreement at public level. Cosatu has always enjoyed a special
relationship with the young lions."
More points of convergence between Cosatu and the youth league include its
members being "on the receiving end of unemployment, poverty, casualisation,
labour brokering and HIV/Aids, and therefore represent[ing] the most
marginalised in society", the report said.
Cosatu should be careful, the report said, of tarring all youth league
members with the same brush.
"We must avoid two extremes. First, we cannot afford to paint every ANCYL
leader with the same brush and label . [them as] tenderpreneurs. Second, we
cannot close our eyes to the reality that some within the ANCYL are driving
an opportunistic programme devoid of any principle, aimed at presenting
themselves as custodians of the correct congress line."
The report explains that although Cosatu helped to develop a paper on
nationalisation, the youth league put the federation in an "awkward
position" when it narrowed its focus to the mining industry.
"In spite of our advice [the league] kept a narrow focus on the
nationalisation of the mines. This put Cosatu in an awkward position. We did
not agree with this approach. In the process, the ANCYL opened itself to
counterassault, as its position was seen to be an unprincipled attempt to
use the legitimate demands of the Freedom Charter to save the precarious
position of the black mining tycoons who were in trouble after the global
economic recession."
A Vavi sympathiser said Cosatu would help the league reach greater
"sophistication and strategy" in its stance on nationalisation. A possible
collision between the league and Cosatu on the retention of Jacob Zuma as
ANC leader was also discussed.
Malema has been critical of Zuma, suggesting to many that the league wants
change. The league has also made it clear it wants to replace ANC secretary
general Gwede Mantashe with Sports Minister Fikile Mbalula.
Cosatu sources said the youth league was willing to compromise and give Zuma
another term as ANC president partly because its leaders believe it would be
difficult to unseat him, but also because of the reluctance of deputy
president Kgalema Motlanthe to fight for the top job.
"[The league] is not that hard on Zuma. They make those noises about him to
keep him on his toes, to show that they are watching him and to make him
vulnerable. "They will let him stay," the Cosatu insider said.
"But they are hard about Mbalula. They want him to be secretary general and
they won't budge on that." These sentiments were also echoed privately by
those involved in the Mbalula campaign.
Vavi has been careful not to be seen to support the youth league publicly.
Cosatu insiders told the M&G that his line of argument in the commissions of
this week's central committee was sympathetic to the youth league's
position.
They said Vavi differed sharply with South African Communist Party leader
Blade Nzimande's reference to youth league "demagoguery".
"He [Vavi] argued that not all ANCYL people are demagogues. He said this
because he is aware that some delegates were prepared to reject anything
associated with Julius Malema.
"The ANCYL's first draft on nationalisation came from Cosatu and this irked
the SACP. Why give the document to the youth league and not to the SACP as
your vanguard?
"It's clear that Vavi is pushing the youth-league agenda. If you look at his
report, it is critical of Zuma and Mantashe. The line he is pushing is one
of regime change," said an alliance leader.
In a confidential report Nzimande prepared ahead of the central committee
meeting, the SACP leader accused Cosatu of "flirting with the demagogic
populist", a reference to Malema.
Nzimande also accused Cosatu of positioning itself outside the state, as a
watchdog.
"In this way, the trade union movement is positioned as a left-wing watchdog
over the state, the same paradigm, but with a left emphasis, as the
self-appointed role of the Democratic Alliance and the media," he said.
It had endeared Cosatu to the media, Nzimande said. "In seeking to position
Cosatu in this way, leading trade union personalities enjoy a great deal of
liberal media glorification."
<http://mg.co.za/article/2011-07-01-vavis-delicate-dance-with-the-ancyl/>
http://mg.co.za/article/2011-07-01-vavis-delicate-dance-with-the-ancyl/
1.7 Cosatu defers talks on ANC succession
Natasha Marrian, SAPA/Mail & Guardian, 30 June 2011
The Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu) deferred discussion on
the African National Congress (ANC) succession debate and nationalisation
after a badly written resolution was put forward at its central committee
meeting in Midrand on Thursday.
The resolution on the National Democratic Revolution was so badly written it
would rob delegates of the opportunity for intelligent discussion, said
Cosatu general secretary Zwelinzima Vavi.
The central committee decided to defer discussions back to its political
commission for resolutions to be made at a Cosatu leadership meeting in
August.
The ANC, represented by national executive committee members Siphiwe Nyanda
and Tony Yengeni, raised the concern that the ANC would not have access to
these later talks. Cosatu's leaders said it would be accommodated.
'Premature'
The resolution called for the debate on leadership succession in the ANC and
its alliance partners, Cosatu and the South African Communist Party -- which
all hold separate elective conferences next year -- to remain closed.
"Such a discussion is premature and has a potential of destroying our
movement," it noted. "The incumbent leadership of these formations must be
supported to take forward their mandate until the end of their term in
office."
Nyanda pointed out that Cosatu said earlier that the ANC leaders elected in
Polokwane should be defended.
The resolution called on alliance partners to stop attacking each other in
public and reiterated Cosatu's support of nationalisation as described in
the Freedom Charter.
The charter specifies that the wealth of the country "shall be restored to
the people" and "the mineral wealth beneath the soil, the banks and monopoly
industry shall be transferred to the ownership of the people as a whole".
The resolution noted a "growing tendency" to use money to secure positions
and to ensure the adoption of certain policies.
A "new tendency" existed of people using political connections for their own
"accumulation interests", adopting an "it's our turn to eat" stance.
"They rely on populist demagoguery politics to allow them enough political
space and power to push for their accumulation agenda."
'Stirring emotions'
Cosatu earlier said this referred to some within the ANC Youth League.
"They seize and use popular working-class issues to stir emotions of
unsuspecting and disgruntled sections of the working class in society when
their actual agenda is to secure power and use such power against the very
working class."
The resolution suggested this group was backed by "well-resourced and
powerful business and politicians".
That it did not spell out how these developments should be dealt with was
part of the reason Vavi suggested that decisions on it be taken later.
Cosatu's central committee meeting entered its fourth and final day on
Thursday.
The mid-term policy and evaluation gathering started on Monday with
President Jacob Zuma telling delegates that the ANC-alliance was in crisis.
<http://mg.co.za/article/2011-06-30-cosatu-defers-talks-on-anc-success...>
http://mg.co.za/article/2011-06-30-cosatu-defers-talks-on-anc-success...
1.8 Scathing attack on SACP ally
Many Rossouw, Mail & Guardian, 1 July 2011
Relationships are hard work. Just ask Cosatu and the South African Communist
Party (SACP). They may have kissed and made up in public but behind closed
doors Cosatu's secretariat report and discussions at the federation's
central committee meeting in Midrand show its "bromance" with the SACP is a
long way from a honeymoon.
The report, presented this week to the committee, was scathing about the
SACP and said the party was interested only in securing government jobs for
its members.
"Provincial reports indicate that the SACP is being weakened by its
deployment, in particular, of the provincial secretaries to the provincial
legislatures. The provinces report of the absence of the SACP in many
working-class battles. The SACP only becomes active when deployment is on
the table."
At a meeting in Gallagher Estate, the communists wanted Cosatu to reject
policies such as nationalisation because it was being championed by the ANC
Youth League.
"[The SACP] had an aggressive campaign wanting us to accept the national
growth path [NGP] and to have us reject nationalisation and the land-reform
issue as articulated by the youth league," a Cosatu delegate from
KwaZulu-Natal told the Mail & Guardian.
The two groups also differed in their approach to the SABC.
"Regrettably, all of these differences feed into a view that Cosatu and the
SACP leadership no longer enjoy a very close relationship and differ on an
increasing number of critical areas of transformation," the report said.
"[Cosatu general secretary Zwel-inzima] Vavi came out against [SACP general
secretary] Blade Nzimande, saying you can't reject something on the basis of
who has raised it," the delegate said.
Nzimande has crossed swords many times with Julius Malema, the youth league
leader, and Nzimande, also the higher education minister, has been under
pressure from Cosatu to return to the SACP headquarters to work full-time as
the general secretary. Irvin Jim, the National Union of Metalworkers (Numsa)
general secretary, continues to raise the issue and delegates told the M&G
that Nzimande targeted him, saying "Jim is a problem" because of this.
"Jim was the most vocal on the fact that Blade should come back to the
party. He said to Blade, you can't be moonlighting -- the party is a shell
now because all its leaders are in government.
"Now there are allegations that Blade is intervening in Numsa to lobby for
Jim to be removed, causing divisions in Cosatu," the delegate said. The
report painted a picture of SACP disarray in Gauteng and the Eastern Cape.
"The SACP has serious challenges in the province [Gauteng] and is supposed
to convene a provincial conference, which has been postponed since last
year. The party is not visible and it is in the process of launching its
voting district branches."
In the Eastern Cape, SACP leaders taking up government positions or moving
to the provincial legislature had paralysed the party there.
"The challenge of the SACP is that almost the entire leadership of the party
is in the legislature or in government as senior managers. The party has not
been able to focus on key strategic issues that relate to the socioeconomic
development of the province and governance. The focus of the party has been
more on ensuring that its cadres get deployed in the ANC, legislature and
municipal councils," the report said.
Recently at a bilateral meeting between Cosatu and the SACP, these
differences were swept under the carpet and Nzimande and Vavi publicly
presented a unified force.
The report emphasised that the relationship with the SACP was Cosatu's
"long-term political insurance of workers" and recommended throwing money at
the problem.
Cosatu was currently footing the bill for the SACP's day-to-day expenses,
such as staff salaries and for administrative support, and the SACP head
office was in Cosatu House in Braamfontein, Johannesburg, according to the
report. "[The SACP] must rely on organised workers for material assistance
and not on BEE or even white capital," it said.
Malesela Maleka, the SACP spokesperson, said the secretariat report was
drafted and finalised before the bilateral meeting. "At that meeting we had
a frank discussion. We told each other what irritate us about one another. I
doubt if Cosatu will now hold the same view," he said.
Maleka said that SACP leaders were deployed to advance the political
programme of the SACP and not for financial gain.
<http://mg.co.za/article/2011-07-01-scathing-attack-on-sacp-ally/>
http://mg.co.za/article/2011-07-01-scathing-attack-on-sacp-ally/
1.9 Cosatu's Vavi hits out at Manuel over planning commission report
Carien Du Plessis, Cape Argus, 30 June 2011
PLANNING Minister Trevor Manuel has come in for a tongue-lashing from
Cosatu, which accused him of trying to "override" the ANC by planning to
engage with ordinary citizens over challenges identified in the National
Planning Commission's recent diagnostic report.
Cosatu has attacked Manuel before, when it said he wanted to become a de
facto "imperial" prime minister as chairman of the commission, and yesterday
general secretary Zwelinzima Vavi renewed the attack by saying the
commission was trying to replicate what the ANC had already been doing for
decades.
Vavi told delegates at the third day of the federation's central committee
meeting in Midrand that the commission "will tell us what we must do (based)
on what they are saying are the views of the public".
However, this was a "contradiction", as the ANC had been listening to the
public since the 1950s when the Freedom Charter was drawn up, Vavi said.
Cosatu is especially bitter about the commission's criticism in its
diagnostic report of teachers union Sadtu.
Vavi said "it is now time to be extremely worried" about what the commission
intended to do when it launched its plan of action in November. When the
report was released, Manuel announced a three-month period of extensive
consultation through multi-media platforms, roadshows and town hall
meetings.
Vavi said the labour federation needed to discuss the issue in more detail
to decide whether it would reject the entire diagnostic report or only parts
of it.
Metalworkers union Numsa's general secretary, Irvin Jim, said the National
Planning Commission was "at an offramp".
He said Cosatu had been raising concerns about the commission from the
start.
"The people of this country voted for the ANC because it has its policies.
Why is it suddenly that the NPC is going out to society to collect views,
and people say how they must be governed?" he asked.
Jim expressed concern that the commission - and by implication, Manuel -
would become more powerful than other ANC cabinet ministers.
In a document detailing resolutions on Cosatu's living wage campaign that
was handed to delegates yesterday, the federation rejects the commission's
diagnostic report as well as the government's economic strategy, the New
Growth Path.
The growth path in its current form did not support Cosatu's living wage
campaign and did not link social development and economic policy, it said.
The federation said it would draw up its own "growth path towards full
employment" as a platform for its campaign for decent wages. It would also
"mobilise the broader left forces", especially within the ruling alliance
and civil society.
Cosatu said an alternative growth path should protect "self-determination"
by imposing exchange controls so that companies invested their profits
within the country in social development, to support decent work and wages.
Cosatu's stance on government's growth path could cause renewed friction
between the labour federation and the SACP, shortly after the two allies
decided to "close ranks" to fight against "right-wing demagogic forces" -
shorthand for Julius Malema's ANC Youth League.
SACP delegates attending the meeting told the Cape Argus yesterday that the
two organisations differed on the issue, with the SACP saying the plan
should not be rejected, although some changes were necessary.
<http://www.iol.co.za/capeargus/cosatu-s-vavi-hits-out-at-manuel-over-...
ng-commission-report-1.1091391>
http://www.iol.co.za/capeargus/cosatu-s-vavi-hits-out-at-manuel-over-...
g-commission-report-1.1091391
2 Workers
2.1 Rainbow Chicken wage talks deadlocked
Andries Mahlangu, BusinessLive, 30 June 2011
Wage talks between Rainbow Chicken and the Food and Allied Workers' Union
(FAWU) remain deadlocked, a little over a month since the strike began.
In the latest development, the union has accused Rainbow - the largest
chicken producer in South Africa - of refusing to meet the workers' demands
halfway despite the downward revision of the wage demands.
Fawu has revised its demand from 14.9% to 8% for farming workers and from
11.4% to 7.5% for workers in the processing division.
But Stephen Heath, group human resources and corporate affairs director at
Rainbow, said the company was offering a 7% pay increase for farm workers
and 6.5% for processing workers who took part in the strike.
However, Rainbow had provided 7.8% to farmworkers and 7.2% to processing
workers, who did not take part in the strike.
"We believe that their demands are still too high although we are willing to
re-negotiate a settlement through the mediator, CCMA, which the union has
proposed. We are puzzled by these latest accusations," Heath said.
Other key sticking points include a reduction in working hours and the
backdating of wage increases to April 1.
Accusing the company of negotiating in bad faith, Fawu said even
intervention by the MEC for Social Development in KwaZulu Natal, Meshack
Radebe, had failed to produce any results this week.
"We believe the company is acting in bad faith and in fact taking
negotiations backwards by offering strikers less of an increase than those
who did not go on strike .... This is tantamount to punishing workers for
exercising their legal right to strike," the union said.
Processing and farm workers were currently earning 4,422 rand and 3,800 rand
a month respectively, according to the union.
The union said about 4,500 workers in six provinces were on strike, while
the company said only three provinces - KwaZulu-Natal, North West and
Western Cape - were affected. Rainbow employs more than 7,300 people.
<http://www.businesslive.co.za/southafrica/sa_companies/2011/06/30/rai...
hicken-wage-talks-deadlocked>
http://www.businesslive.co.za/southafrica/sa_companies/2011/06/30/rai...
icken-wage-talks-deadlocked
2.2 Rainbow 'punishing' strikers: FAWU
Supermarket.co.za, 30 June 2011
Rainbow Chickens is "punishing" workers for going on strike, despite efforts
by the Food and Allied Workers' Union (Fawu) to continue talks, the trade
union said on Thursday.
"We believe the company is acting in bad faith and in fact taking
negotiations backwards by offering strikers less of an increase than those
who did not go on strike," Fawu spokesman Dominique Swartz claimed in a
statement.
"This is tantamount to punishing workers for exercising their legal right to
strike."
About 4500 workers from Rainbow Chickens' processing and farm plants were on
a national strike which started on May 26.
Workers from the Western and Eastern Cape, North West, Mpumalanga, Gauteng
and KwaZulu-Natal plants were demanding better wages, reduced working hours
and backdated payment to April 2011.
Fawu initially demanded a 14.9 percent salary increase for farm workers, and
11.4 percent for workers in the processing division, but decreased it to
eight percent and 7.5 percent respectively.
The company however refused to meet the union halfway, Swartz alleged.
Intervention by KwaZulu-Natal social development MEC Dr Meshack Radebe
failed to produce results.
Fawu said its members would continue striking, despite the no work, no pay
rule.
Rainbow Chickens' spokesman Stephen Heath on Thursday said the company had
not refused to meet with Fawu.
On Monday the Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration (CCMA)
had contacted the company and suggested an attempt at further mediation.
"This, however, requires the consent of both parties and whilst Rainbow
agreed to the further mediation, we understand that the national negotiator
of FAWU Sipho Khumalo refused to do so," Heath said.
"On Wednesday June 29 Sipho Khumalo indicated his agreement to returning to
the CCMA, so the latest statement from FAWU is even more perplexing."
He said Rainbow Chickens' said it would increase its wage offer for
processing workers from six percent to 6.5 percent and from 6.5 percent to
seven percent for farm workers.
However, in an attempt to avert the strike Rainbow Chickens' tabled its
final offer of 7.2 percent for processing workers and 7.8 percent for farm
workers, on the understanding that this was only applicable to non-strikers
and for those who went on strike the offer would remain at six percent and
6.5 percent respectively.
"This was made very clear to the union and the workers in writing," Heath
said.
"At that stage about 65 percent of the workforce indicated that they did not
wish to strike and accepted the company's offer."
According to Rainbow Chickens' records less than half the workforce were on
strike, he said.
"...There are definitely not 4500 workers on strike."
Heath said the company remained open to discussions and further mediation
but Fawu also had to be willing. (Source: Sapa)
<http://www.supermarket.co.za/news_detail.asp?ID=2967>
http://www.supermarket.co.za/news_detail.asp?ID=2967
2.3 NUM: Eskom has 'tendency of non-consultation'
TimesLive, 1 July 2011
The National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) accused Eskom and Public Enterprises
Minister Malusi Gigaba on Friday of a "new tendency of non-consultation".
"The NUM is saddened that as a trade union that represents over 16,000 Eskom
workers, it has not been invited to Eskom's financial results announcement
as major stakeholders at the parastatal," NUM general secretary Lesiba
Seshoka said in a statement.
"The NUM vows to take Eskom and the [public enterprises] minister on and has
called on its members to organise themselves and be ready for a mother of
all strike actions at the parastatal demanding consultation, a minimum
service level agreement and the fact that its management team received a 109
percent [salary] increment in 2010."
After Eskom released its financial results earlier this week the state-owned
entity received wide-spread criticism for huge salary increases given to its
executives, while consumers were struggling to make ends meet as tariffs
went up.
Seshoka said the union was being marginalised.
"The NUM condemns in the strongest words possible the arrogance of both
Eskom management and the Minister of Public Enterprises, Malusi Gigaba, in
advocating a new tendency of non-consultation with the trade unions on a
variety of issues at Eskom," said Seshoka.
<http://www.timeslive.co.za/local/2011/07/01/num-eskom-has-tendency-of...
onsultation>
http://www.timeslive.co.za/local/2011/07/01/num-eskom-has-tendency-of...
nsultation
2.4 Union grows through white-collar members
Mandy Rossouw, Mail & Guardian, 1 July 2011
Cosatu's membership has grown 3.8% since 2007, but its secretariat report
shows that it was mainly owed to an increase in the membership of its
public-service unions.
The report confirmed the shift in Cosatu's class composition towards an
increasing representation of state employees, many of them in white-collar
jobs. The federation has close to 850 000 members in the state and municipal
sectors, about 41% of its total membership, but this represented a growth of
more than 100 000 since 2007.
Presented to the central committee by general secretary Zwelinzima Vavi, the
secretariat report said membership rose from 1.8-million in 2007 to
207-million last year. It indicated that the numbers could be higher --
unions declined to release true -figures because it would increase
affiliation fees.
The report showed that the National Union of Mineworkers remained Cosatu's
largest affiliate with 272 000 members, but there was a decline of 2 500
members since 2007. The NUM has been in long-term decline because South
Africa's mining industry has contracted.
Other private-sector unions to show declining numbers since 2007 included
the commercial workers' union Saccawu, down 13 000 members to 115 488, and
the clothing and textile workers' union Sactwu, sharply down by almost 20
000 since 2008. The clothing and textiles industry faces crippling
competition from Asian producers.
The report pointed out that the membership figures of affiliates in mining,
clothing and construction were unlikely to be accurate because these unions
recorded no change between 2009 and this year.
One industrial union that bucked the trend in a significant way was the
metalworkers' union Numsa, which grew 21%, from 217 000 in 2007 to 263 000
this year. The growth is ascribed to an improved membership system in the
motor industry and last year's motor industry strike, which added 7 000
members.
But the biggest gains were in the central state and municipal sectors.
Prisons union Popcru registered the largest percentage jump in membership
33.99% from 105 000 to 141 000, and health workers' union Nehawu grew
16.83%, from 215 000 to 251 000. Municipal union Samwu grew by 14%, from 119
000 to 136 000, and teachers' union Sadtu added 7.1%, from about 230 000 to
about 247 000.
The report also said membership losses occurred mostly between January 2009
and May 2010, and were largely owed to retrenchments.
http://mg.co.za/article/2011-07-01-union-grows-through-whitecollar-me...
3 South
Africahttp://www.iol.co.za/logger/p.gif?a=1.1091639&d=/2.225/2.545/2.546
3.1 Patel delighted with Cosatu's growth path deferment
TimesLive, 1 July 2011
Economic Development Minister Ebrahim Patel is "delighted" that his New
Growth Policy was not whole-heartedly adopted by the Congress of South
African Trade Unions (Cosatu).
The labour federation decided to defer further discussions on the New Growth
Path (NGP) economic policy to its central executive committee after four
days of deliberations found there still serious concerns held by Cosatu
affiliates.
Patel was interviewed shortly after the end of Cosatu's fifth central
committee meeting that takes place every three years and half way between
its congresses.
Cosatu's socio-economic commission raised a number of issues about the NGP,
specifically saying that it would not adequately address the triple crises
of unemployment, poverty and inequality, as the policy's emphasis was on
reducing the cost of business, and this was not in line with the
Redistribution and Development Programme.
It said: "The NGP should be viewed as a dynamic document shaped by fluidity
of the debate in the ANC (African National Congress), especially its
multi-class character."
The commission went on to say that the NGP should be completely overhauled
and that macroeconomic policy must be shifted otherwise the NGP would be
trapped in neoliberalism.
It also made the point that the SA Reserve Bank "needs to be nationalised."
Cosatu lamented in its final declaration that 36% of workers were unemployed
and that the jobs situation was getting worse.
These criticisms and the failure of the Cosatu central committee meeting to
agree on a declaration of outright support has not fazed Patel, who is the
champion of the NGP.
Patel understands the processes and the nature of the discussions as he is
essentially a child of the unions and was at one time secretary general of
the SA Clothing and Textile Workers Union.
He was also on the team that drafted the Redistribution and Development
Programme, was organised labour's lead negotiator at the 1998 Presidential
Jobs Summit called by President Nelson Mandela and again in 2004 at the
Growth and Development Summit presided over by President Thabo Mbeki.
"If we had to make progress in really getting the economy moving and
creating five million new jobs it means big changes across society and it is
necessary and important that the workers understand what the issues are,"
Patel said.
He said what Cosatu was grappling with was developing an understanding of
what the opportunities and challenges were in the NGP from the workers' and
organised labour's points of view.
"Have we got the balance right? Do those balances have to be tweaked a
little? Those are the issues they are debating quite robustly at the moment
and it can only help us that it happens," he said.
What Patel said of the two previous job summits was that they adopted a
number of growth and development agreements, but very little happened
afterwards.
"In both cases excellent sentiment, but not enough joint commitment to
making that work," he said. "So we are learning from that and we are
encouraging discussion, debate and reflection and I rather prefer what
happened here. Real discussion, flagging some concerns, identifying areas
that the labour movement feels very happy with, but also pointing to areas
of grave concerns."
Patel said that in government's engagements with organised labour they had
agreed to deal with an issue, implement it, wrap it up and then move on.
"So as we covered an area and we reached the consensus we required, that
gets implemented and we moved onto the next area," he said.
On perceived rifts between Cosatu and the ANC, Patel said there was still a
very firm commitment to the alliance including a lot of calls to strengthen
it and finding ways of strengthening the developmental growth path.
"And so the focus with the NGP is how to make it work, how to give it the
strongest colour. Remember there is a degree of bargaining that takes place
in this process. Just as in wage bargaining, people will come with a lot of
feeling and concerns, but at the end of day they want to walk away with an
agreement," Patel said.
<http://www.businesslive.co.za/southafrica/2011/07/01/patel-delighted-...
osatu-s-growth-path-deferment>
http://www.businesslive.co.za/southafrica/2011/07/01/patel-delighted-...
satu-s-growth-path-deferment
3.2 Cosatu labels Walmart as a threat
Business Report, 30 June 2011
The Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu) is determined to see
labour brokers banned and says organised labour is facing two new threats in
the form of Walmart and the Youth Wage Subsidy.
On Thursday, the final day of Cosatu's fifth central committee meeting, it
issued a draft declaration that stated employed workers did not escape the
effects of the recent global recession.
"More and more workers, including many working in the hall where we met (at
Gallagher Estate), are employed by labour brokers on poverty pay, some for
only a few days a month, with no security, no benefits and none of the
fundamental rights enshrined in our constitution and labour laws. We are
more determined to get labour brokers banned," the draft declaration said.
It went on to say that even in sectors that had bargaining councils, some
employers were blatantly refusing to abide by negotiated agreements, and
were threatening to close factories and move to countries where workers are
even worse paid.
The draft declaration labelled US retail giant Walmart as being "union
bashing" and accused it of trying to squeeze workers' wages to the minimum
and would cause massive job losses in its rival retail companies and South
African manufacturers.
"The central committee pledged its total support to the SACCAWU (South
African Commercial Catering and Allied Workers Union) campaign and resolved
to take to the streets to defend jobs and union rights," it said.
The draft declaration went to say that the Youth Wage Subsidy threatened to
cause even greater "super-exploitation" of workers, as employers would "rush
to retrench older workers whose wages are not subsidised."
Cosatu's draft declaration said the union federation had resolved to take
its "Living Wage Campaign" to new heights as a means to counter the
mentioned threats.
Part of this campaign would be to establish a commission that would meet
four times a year to analyse and assess progress in improving workers'
wages.
"We are more determined than ever to unite workers in their common struggles
and mobilise solidarity action in support of workers fighting for better
wages," the draft declaration said.
Cosatu said it would also focus on the 'social wage', by campaigning for the
national health insurance system to be implemented, decent and affordable
housing, free education for all and safe, reliable and affordable public
transport. - I-Net Bridge
<http://www.iol.co.za/business/business-news/cosatu-labels-walmart-as-...
at-1.1091495>
http://www.iol.co.za/business/business-news/cosatu-labels-walmart-as-...
t-1.1091495
3.3 'Walmart thinks it's over but it's not'
Anne Crotty, Business Report, 1 July 2011
It's not over," replied Philip Jennings, the general secretary of UNI
Global, when asked by Business Report yesterday what he thought of the
Competition Tribunal's decision on the merger between Walmart and Massmart.
Jennings, who is in South Africa to address the Cosatu meeting, said:
"Walmart thinks it's over but nobody else does."
After Jennings' address yesterday, the Cosatu central executive committee
unanimously supported a motion to begin planning steps for mass action.
According to a statement issued by UNI, Cosatu is mobilising for action and
next week unions representing Massmart workers across Africa will meet in
Johannesburg.
UNI Global, a Swiss-based global trade union representing 900 trade unions
and 20 million workers worldwide, had provided support for the SA
Commercial, Catering and Allied Workers Union (Saccawu) during its
intervention in the proceedings before the competition authorities.
Jennings said that UNI and the South African unions were studying the
tribunal's reasons closely and they believed that Saccawu's decision to
submit an appeal was more than justified. UNI is supporting Cosatu and
Saccawu in their preparations for an appeal of the tribunal's decision and
it is encouraging the government to also look into the deal.
Jennings said Walmart's entry into the South African market could not simply
be left in the hands of judges.
He called on Parliament to re-examine the transaction and in particular the
local procurement issues.
Jennings said that it was apparent from media reports that Walmart was
currently on a "charm offensive" in South Africa. "But the charm offensive
has focused only on prices, Walmart needs to do something about its
relationship with government and labour."
With reference to the tribunal's reasons for its decision to grant
conditional approval, Jennings said he was surprised that the tribunal did
not believe its job was to make things better but merely to ensure things
did not get worse.
"There seems to be no consideration of the nature of competition that is
coming to South Africa, this is an enormous player. it is five times larger
than its next four competitors combined," Jennings said. "If Walmart was a
country it would be in the (Group of 20)."
Competition lawyers seem generally uncertain as to whether Saccawu's
decision to appeal the tribunal's approval will be pursued to the end,
including the Competition Appeal Court, the Supreme Court of Appeal and the
Constitutional Court, or whether it is merely a negotiating tactic aimed at
securing some ground from Walmart. One lawyer pointed out that apart from
the costs, which are considerable, the unions did not have much to lose.
The conditions that have been imposed by the tribunal, which are not very
onerous, would not be set aside unless Walmart and Massmart decide to
cross-appeal.
<http://www.iol.co.za/business/business-news/walmart-thinks-it-s-over-...
-s-not-1.1091639>
http://www.iol.co.za/business/business-news/walmart-thinks-it-s-over-...
s-not-1.1091639
4 Comment
4.1 Business needs Cosatu's Vavi
Editorial, Business Day, 1 July 2011
Questions surround many of SA's political leaders, but one figure who seems
to have escaped the kind of gnawing critical undercurrent associated with
President Jacob Zuma, for example, is Cosatu general secretary Zwelinzima
Vavi.
SOMETIMES what isn't is more important than what is. Questions surround many
of SA's political leaders, but one figure who seems to have escaped the kind
of gnawing critical undercurrent associated with President Jacob Zuma , for
example, is Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu) general
secretary Zwelinzima Vavi. The rumours and scuttlebutt that surround so many
others in politics are notably absent from the haze of natter that surrounds
Mr Vavi.
How does he manage it?
Mr Vavi's success has come despite an outspokenness that verges on
sensationalism. It exists despite the odd and seemingly contradictory
positions that Cosatu is often forced to take.
He famously commented: "We are heading rapidly in the direction of a
full-blown predator state in which a powerful corrupt and demagogic elite of
political hyenas increasingly controls the state as a vehicle of
accumulation."
That's saying it. You would not think that anyone making that statement
could possibly then go and endorse the party in power. But whenever
elections roll around, Cosatu inexorably falls into line and endorses the
African National Congress (ANC), and it is Mr Vavi who has to deliver the
message.
His job is to manage a delicate balance. Without his "sensationalist"
outbursts about corruption, his organisation might risk marginalisation.
Without ANC support, his members would suffer.
The same kind of tightrope walking is evident in his relations with leaders
of the tripartite alliance.
Mr Vavi is capable of warning earnestly about "right-wing demagogues" - code
for ANC Youth League president Julius Malema - but bizarrely enough he
remains on pretty good terms with the league, partly by endorsing many of
its ideas and programmes.
Likewise, Mr Vavi feels no compunction in calling for Mr Zuma to "pull up
his socks" as if he were a schoolboy, but seems ready to throw Cosatu's
support behind a second term for Mr Zuma.
Mr Vavi appears to have successfully guided Cosatu as an organisation too.
Trade union membership is more or less stable, and even rising slightly in
some cases. Financial problems within the movement don't exist in a serious
form, or have escaped public scrutiny.
What has not been achieved is a true blending of political programmes
between the ANC and Cosatu, which presumably is what the organisation hoped
to achieve by ousting former president Thabo Mbeki and endorsing Mr Zuma. It
may be that such a blending is just impossible. It certainly would not be
desirable. But whatever the case, Cosatu remains largely on the outside of
the government looking in, almost as much today as it was during the Mbeki
presidency.
The same kind of things that Mr Vavi used to say of Mr Mbeki, he now says of
Mr Zuma. The same kind of arguments Cosatu had about the nature of the
alliance during the Mbeki presidency played out again at its congress this
week. The congress declaration criticised the Treasury, calling again for a
"fundamental change in the Treasury's fiscal and monetary policies", just as
it used to complain about Treasury programmes when Trevor Manuel was finance
minister.
This historical echo is either surprising consistency or a demonstration
that this is a structural gap that just can't be filled.
In many ways, Cosatu needs to retain a level of independence, like a
paramour who tries to keep his or her lover interested by maintaining a
coquettish distance. Mr Vavi has proved himself amazingly adept at this
delicate art - sometimes by being outspokenly frank.
Mr Vavi is no friend of business, but many of Cosatu's campaigns deserve
support from business, notably its desire to stamp out corruption. Business
might not share his ideology, yet it can be grateful for the element of
stability and leadership within the alliance that Mr Vavi provides.
<http://www.businessday.co.za/articles/Content.aspx?id=147353>
http://www.businessday.co.za/articles/Content.aspx?id=147353
4.2 Seeking union relevance in a world in turmoil
Terry Bell, Business Report, 1 July 2011
The global economy is in turmoil, with even those usually optimistic flag
wavers of the present system, the World Bank and the International Monetary
Fund, issuing warnings. What has been referred to in some quarters as the
"Greek disease" is, at last, being recognised as a financial cancer
afflicting the global body politic.
Yet most mainstream economists, commentators and governments still tend,
like fish stranded by a fast retreating tide, to be flapping around
frantically and aimlessly. The more cautious among them hoping for a slow
return of the tide; most merely hoping against hope that somehow, sometime,
all will return to what it was.
It has not - and the crisis, along with the search for solutions, continues.
South Africa, as part of the global village, is not immune and this should
have become even clearer over the past week, with the announcement of new
jobless figures: the timebomb of unemployment is now ticking even faster.
As such, trade unions, as organisers of the army of the employed who are
also supporters of the vast and growing army of the unemployed, have become
perhaps more important now than ever before. Together, they have
considerable power, both nationally and in many other regions across the
globe, to affect the course of history.
As a result, unions, federations and international labour groupings are
trying, sometimes desperately, to adapt to the changed and changing economic
and political realities of today; to a world of surpluses where the
productive environment, particularly the seas, is being destroyed and where
more people are starving and unemployed than at any other time in human
history.
These circumstances are forcing trade unions to adapt in order to remain
relevant and to retain their ability to use what economic and political
power they posses. And they continue constantly to have to deal with
bribes, blandishments and bullying from governments, political parties and
business.
Against this background, it was logical that the domestic media focus over
the past week was on the Cosatu central committee meeting at Gallagher
Estate. Cosatu, as the numerically largest constituent in the governing
ANC, is, potentially, the real kingmaker since it remains tied to the ruling
party while, at the same time, giving precedence to the SA Communist Party.
The deliberations, declarations and decisions at the Midrand meeting
reflected the changed situation in which Cosatu and its affiliates find
themselves; they signalled a serious searching for a means to be more
relevant in the months and years ahead. The same is true of the other
unions and federations.
Over recent months there has been considerable soul searching within the
broader labour movement. Some of this has resulted in another attempt by
the smaller federations to unite, and perhaps to bring aboard one of the
country's "Big Five" unions, the independent, 210 000-member, Public
Servants Association (PSA).
Yesterday (subs: Thursday) two of the independent federations - the
Federation of Unions (Fedusa), the National Council of Trade Unions (Nactu)
met to try to resuscitate the stillborn South African Confederation of
Trade Unions (Sacotu). The PSA is closely following the discussions and
informal talks are continuing with the Confederation of South African
Workers' Unions (Consawu) in which the Solidarity union is the major player.
But unity, in and of itself, is not seen as a solution; relevance is the
key. This was a debate that surfaced in Pretoria on Friday last week at the
congress of the SA Onderwysers Unie (SAOU) that, like all unions in the
country, has its name registered in English. At a bureaucratic level,
therefore, the SAOU is the SA Teachers' Union.
A Fedusa affiliate, the SAOU came into the new dispensation bearing the
segregationist legacy of the past: white, Afrikaans speaking and Christian.
But it was - and remains - a highly efficient and effective trade union that
has grown by nearly 2 000 members in the past year to a record 30 109.
This is the union that received a recent accolade from ANC
secretary-general, Gwede Mantashe when he castigated members of the major,
Cosatu-affiliated SA Democratic Teachers' Union. Mantashe maintained that
Sadtu was "less committed than the SAOU".
He was referring to the fact that schools where SAOU members were prominent
tended not to be dysfunctional. And he was also aware that the SAOU had
provided training and upgrading workshops for thousands of educators who
were not members of the union.
So far, this year, for example, the SAOU has provided one-day courses on
aspects of the curriculum for 9 860 teachers as well as courses on school
management for 3 000 principals in Limpopo. These are, for the most part,
held in school halls, so reducing costs.
One of the reasons for the fact that many - often most - of the teachers
attending are not SAOU members is a reflection of the changed circumstances
in which this union now finds itself: the overwhelming majority of SAOU
members now teach an overwhelming majority of the children of the previously
disenfranchised majority. And 54 per cent of SAOU members work in schools
where Afrikaans is not the medium of instruction.
The racial barriers have gone, but the linguistic and religious remain. As
such, the SAOU is still, to a large extent, a union catering for Christians
whose mother tongue is Afrikaans.
But, as union president Dr Jopie Breed warned the congress: "We cannot
function as an island." The primary identity of SAOU members, he added, was
as trade unionists. He implied inclusivity: the union as a home for all.
This is the fundamental principle of trade unionism: that unions are the
primary organisations of workers as workers, irrespective of gender,
ethnicity, language, religious or political belief. As most of the
independents are concerned, this applies as equally to Cosatu and its
affiliation to the SACP and ANC as it does to the SAOU.
Unity in diversity is the accepted principle. The argument is that it
should be fully put into practice. A question perhaps of adapt, fragment or
fade away into irrelevance.
4.3 Claim no easy victories
Editorial, Mail & Guardian, 1 July 2011
Zwelinzima Vavi is right: Cosatu's increasingly vocal opposition to the
Protection of Information Bill was enormously important in helping the ANC
to see reason on this anti-democratic piece of legislation.
It certainly wasn't the only factor; indeed, the broad coalition against the
Bill is in many ways a template for a new kind of activism that mobilises
across South African society -- in seminar rooms, on the streets, in the
press and in Parliament -- but we originally called for Cosatu to spend real
political capital on this debate because the union federation is uniquely
positioned to do so.
Thanks, comrades.
Victory, however, is far from certain. The concessions made by the
parliamentary ANC are of vital importance. Limiting the reach of the Bill to
government departments directly concerned with security, setting up credible
review mechanisms and abolishing mandatory minimum sentences -- these are
moves that for the first time since the Bill's introduction take the
conversation in the right direction. But the concessions are far from
sufficient.
The possession or publication of leaked secrets remains a criminal offence;
the most trivial risk to national security can still be used as a blunt
instrument to justify classification; the intelligence services, so much in
need of activist and media scrutiny, still get unwarranted and
unconstitutional protection; and the courts are still asked to violate the
open-justice principle by automatically holding all hearings involving
secret documents in camera.
In short, this is not the time to be claiming credit or slapping backs. It
is a time to welcome the ANC's new openness to debate and swiftly move on to
dealing with the elephantine issues that remain.
Some argue that the door is now open for "compromise". Let us be very clear:
there can be no compromise on the Bill of Rights. It is perfectly possible
to craft legislation that will provide an instrument appropriate to protect
highly sensitive state information without gutting freedom of information,
freedom of expression and the principles of open democracy.
The choice is not between a WikiLeaks world without secrets and the
compliant silence still envisaged by the Bill. On the contrary, it is
between a democratic state acting rationally to manage risk within the
framework of the Constitution and a pseudo democracy imposing on its
subjects the paranoid rule of the military censor "for their own good".
There isn't really a halfway house between these two positions; they reflect
incommensurable value systems and any attempt to marry them is doomed to end
up before the 11 judges on Constitution Hill in Braamfontein.
The ANC knows this; after all, ANC leaders shaped the democratic deal we
signed off on in 1996. That, no doubt, is why the presidency has now agreed
to regularise the extension of Chief Justice Sandile Ngcobo's term of office
by an Act of Parliament. That should help secure the separation-of-powers
principle and prevent serious embarrassment for the court.
Unfortunately, chief state law adviser and Secrecy Bill apologist Enver
Daniels seems incapable of understanding this position and advising his
client accordingly. As for the spooks, they can't be expected to understand.
They aren't programmed that way.
Time then to stop the self-congratulatory backslapping. There is a mountain
still to climb.
<http://mg.co.za/article/2011-07-01-claim-no-easy-victories/>
http://mg.co.za/article/2011-07-01-claim-no-easy-victories/
Patrick Craven (National Spokesperson)
Congress of South African Trade Unions
1-5 Leyds Cnr Biccard Streets
Braamfontein
2017
P.O.Box 1019
Johannesburg
South Africa
Tel: +27 11 339-4911/24
Fax: +27 11 339-5080 / 6940
Mobile: +27 82 821 7456
E-Mail: patr...@cosatu.org.za
