Role of Trade Unions in South Africa Essay Example

process of the country as this affords them a mass following and a political clout (G Wood 2002). It is generally recognized that Cosatu adopted a social movement role by combining workplace organization with the methods and wider aims of a social movement (G Wood 2002).

Closely linked to the role of the of trade unions one has to understand the ideology which was present in Cosatu as this would help answer the question whether they still hold this position today.Cosatu explicitly understood the existence of classes and the need for strong independent organisations for the working class (Baskin; 1991; 95). Cosatu saw multiclass alliances, under working class leadership as the requirement for advancing to socialism. Jay Naidoo explained the political policy in a speech when he said that: “We are not fighting for a freedom which sees the bulk of our workers continuing to suffer as they do today. We therefore see it as our duty to promote working-class politics.A politics where the interests of the worker are paramount in the struggle…” (Baskin, 1991, 95) This attestation was a halfway measure adopted by Cosatu in light of two contesting ideologies.

The populists saw racial oppression as the central contradiction within society and all its efforts were to defeat apartheid then all was going to be well. The problem with this ideology was that it failed to account for the day when the enemy was defeated then the role of the trade union would have to change in light of a democratically appointed government.The workerists saw apartheid as only concealing the real problem which was capitalist exploitation. To harmonise the differing ideologies Cosatu formed an

alliance with ANC and South African Communist Party and this was seen by many as a socialist project that would bring national liberation (Wood 2002).

However others argued that socialism should be the primary goal and that any compromise would betray the working class character of the union (Wood 2002).The ideology of trade unions is for the working class and their interests the problem then arises when one considers the dynamics of the working class have evolved over time. In contemporary times the nature of work and the worker has changed and the question is how the union’s best can serve the interests of these people. There are groups of workers that do not have job security. These workers are employed as temporary, contract, casual or part-time workers to make the labour market more flexible (Webster et al 2003,16).

The essence of this worker is that in times of production they can be brought into the workplace on temporary contracts and when the production is low they are pushed out. One would have to consider then how their interests are best served and if they can be classified as the working class and the other problem, that arises form this group of workers is that they are all over the place and how can they be unionized and one may argue that the unions are reluctant to represent them since they do not pay subscriptions.The other issue is that this temporal work is legally endorsed but it goes against the unions’ policy of full time employment. The centre of the new work order consists of the core and non core workers (Webster et al 2003, 16).

The core workers are involved in the informational economy that is based on knowledge and innovation.

These core workers are based mainly focus on the design and conceptualization of a product and this makes them more of management and therefore not really the working class.The last phase of employees that are found are those that are self-employed as these people are merely just making a living and therefore they cannot join a union to address issues against themselves this just means that due to the change in the role of work trade unions seem not to be providing the interests of the workers. The major challenge which Cosatu faces apart from the changing nature of work is that in its tripartite alliance it betrayed the socialist movement.This is because ANC once in power seems to have adopted a neo-liberalist approach and it seems to have abandoned the social-democratic programme which it engaged in with Cosatu (Bikisha media collective 2006). One may note that Cosatu’s ally the ANC through winning the right to hold elections may be seen as a compromise between big capital and the leaders of the ANC, this in essence was the retention of capitalism which favoured the interests of the African middle class and black bourgeoisie but not the interests of the impoverished workers (Bikisha media collective 2006).The codification of GEAR only compounds the neo-liberal tendencies of the ANC.

The key aims of GEAR were to privatise and commercialise state-owned companies and utilities including electricity, water, steel and telecommunications. There were to be cutbacks in social spending and in the size of the public sector workforce (Bikisha media collective 2006). GEAR also

promoted the promotion of labour market flexibility and the development of a layer of precarious workers and investment and job creation was to be led by private business especially foreign investors.The result of the GEAR policy meant that there were massive state pension cuts, people were fired, a decline in public hospitals, schools and roads. A further effect of this policy is that of a decline in the wage levels, daily cuts in electricity and water in the poorest communities.

GEAR had promised a creation of about four-hundred thousand new jobs but in actual fact there was a loss of about a million jobs and subsequent decline in employment (Bikisha media collective 2006). From the outset of the role of unions and the effects of the GEAR policy indicate that Cosatu has lost the plot so to speak.As a trade union it is under a positive duty to ensure that the ANC as its ally does not undertake policies that will undermine the premise on which it stands on. The economic rationale seems to have overtaken the role and the ideology which the unions were based on. Cosatu has been unable to understand the role played by the ANC in the war for the working class and poor and has failed to come up with a coherent and effective response to the GEAR policy instead they plead with the ANC to consult them.

This has become a classic case of dancing with the devil.The defeat of the common enemy which is that of Apartheid has led to blind loyalty of the ANC which neglects the purpose of the unions in favour of neo-liberalism. Another major

problem that is faced by the Trade unions is that of globalisation. The major problem is that companies seem to side-line the fair labour standards and moves to the next country that pays poverty wages and offers little or no protection to the workers ( Afrol 2001). South Africa has been described as being in an unprecedented position when it comes to the problem of globalisation.South Africa has a minority living by Western Standards, which has been integrated by industrialised worlds market and competing with the modern American, European or Japanese companies and in contrast there is the poor black working class which is unemployed and lives directly off the land (Afrol 2001).

The most vulnerable group to globalisation is the black low wage employees as their work can be done in neighbouring countries at half the price and the companies do not have to face meddling unions (Afrol 2001).There has been a recorded fifteen percent loss in formal sector jobs due to globalization trends such as privatisation, downsizing and outsourcing in the public sector. Capital continues to move more rapidly than the actual labour. This is a problem for most trade unions because international capital holds more weight within the country than what trade unions have to offer. Cosatu’s solution to this growing problem is that of collective bargaining and this right has been achieved in South Africa than any other country in Africa (Afrol 2001). This fight against globalisation is to be done through organizing informal sector orkers.

This shows a consented effort to ensure that the interests of workers are addressed by the unions. However the discussion up to this point has

shown that the ideology of trade unions seems to have waned over the years. There is therefore an inherent need to address the needs of the workers and this is to be done by social movements. The social movements have been described as being re-constituted and reinvented examples of such movements are the Treatment Action Campaign, Anti-privatisation forum, the landless people movement and the Soweto Electricity Committee (Ballard 83).The names of the social movement groups seem to echo the grievances of the people directly something which the unions stood for.

Ballard argues that the emergence of a new set of struggles may be attributed to growing levels of poverty and the inequality in the society (Ballard 83). Social movements seem to be addressing issues of some groups that have been neglected by the by the Trade Unions for instance new unions have emerged in response to the growth of the informal sector.The Self Employed Women’s Union in KwaZulu Natal achieved a significant success in forcing recognition of more survivalist livelihoods in the informal economy and as a result in eThekwini vendors are no longer chased from the streets (Ballard 84). This group of self-employed people are hard to represent under Trade Unions and the social movements seems to have addressed their needs. However some people see the role of social movements as being nothing unless they are supported by trade union federations with their huge, nationally structured institutional resources (Ballard 84).This seems to be ideological because of the fact the unions have harmonised with political parties and they have to follow their agenda as they are a subordinate of these structures and they seem to

enjoy the benefits of the economic rationale of the political parties namely ANC.

The power of social movements lies in not exclusion from the formal sector and hence they are free from beaurecratic tendencies and therefore appeal to the needs of the poor neglected individual.One may also argue that Trade Unions have realised the support they have been neglecting to acquire their political gains so it is a matter of if one can not beat them then join them. To every problem there needs a solution and Trade Unions are no exception. Trade unions have shown that there are trying to solve their problems by professionalizing their approaches to organization and administration by employing experts to work in different areas of union work (Webster et al 2003 54).

One solution from a personal point of view is an analysis of the gains and the failures they have had since democratization. This will help in realising the areas that are lacking and the necessary input is given to that. Trade Unions need to cut ties with the ruling parties as they have different ideologies this is the reason why support will continue to wane because the ANC will continue its policy of neo-liberalism making it difficult for the Unions to protect the poor. Trade-unions in South Africa have taken a more neo-liberalist perspective in dealing with the issues of workers.From the arguments posed in the essay one can see that Trade Unions are more inclined to serving the interests of the black elite as they are the ones that pay homage to the unions themselves. Such policies as the Black Economic Empowerment serve the black elite as

the poor have no access to this facility.

From the historical background the Unions have put themselves in a political quagmire by aligning themselves to the ruling party. The political gains to end Apartheid have been achieved and there is need to address the social problems that the poor hoped will be addressed by political independence.Trade Unions were the driving force in South Africa and should continue to be the driving force to social balance. A lax in policy might lead to problems like those experienced in Zimbabwe where after Independence the land question was not addressed. The very people that the unions have neglected have the potential to bring their ruin.

In conclusion one is inclined to view Trade Unions as compared to social movements have ceased to protect the interests of the poor. BIBLIOGRAPHY 1)Baskin J. 1991. Striking Back: A history of COSATU.Johannesburg : Ravan Press 2)Ballard R, . Social Movements in Post-Aparthied South Africa: An Introduction.

3)Bikisha Media Collective, 2006. Class Struggles in South Africa: from Apartheid To Neo Liberalism. http://www. zabalaza. net.

/texts/pam_class. htm 4)Webster E, Buhlungu S, Bezuidenhout, 2003. Work and Organizations . New York: Oxford University Press. 5)Wood ,G. 2002.

“The politics of trade unions in transition: the case of the Congress of South African Trade Unions”. Contemporary Politics. vol 8(2). 6)Afro news. South African unions face globalization 10 April 2001.

http:www. afrol. com. /News2001/sa019_globalisation_lab.

htm