red bantus ?

under construction

guest shot 
for black eye 



===================

 

lets see here 
    what this 
  big shot union bantu's
    sez his unions   up to


=================================== 

comrades , brothers and sisters,



To understand COSATUs position 
on globalisation,
 you first
have to understand 
our overall approach to the union
movement

 COSATU has long adopted 
what we call
 social trade unionism 
or
 what others call
 transformatory 
or
 revolutionary trade unionism

---- sounds mighty, maaaaan --------

 We are not 
and have never been
 a narrow gumboots
       overalls or wages union

  -------- show me don't tell me maaan ---------

COSATU was formed 
in the middle 
of battles 
waged by our people
 against the tyranny 
of the apartheid system

 We understood 
that we couldn't be successful
 in improving conditions at the workplace
 without first contributing
 to 
the broader liberation struggle
 of our people 
against racist tyranny

Informed by the lessons 
of our history

 COSATU knew 
that it could not fight 
and 
win
 by just uniting workers
 against apartheid

 We had to form 
broader alliances 
with a range 
of
political and social movements

 Today
 on that basis
 COSATU
is part of 
the tripartite alliance 
formed between itself
 the ruling African National Congress 
and
 the South African Communist Party

 It is this Alliance 
that led the united front 
against apartheid 
and 
finally won 
the struggle for democracy in 1994.

Because we know 
that workers
 are members of the society
before they are workers


 we have sought 
to integrate 
their struggles at the workplace 
with those of our communities

 It is these forms 
of struggles 
that over time 
developed the capacity of COSATU
 as the all round movement 
that is the true voice 
of the marginalized

 We have led 
struggles for 
decent houses
 access to electricity
 and
 other basic amenities 
side by side 
with the need
 to pay workers a living wage
 and
 for improved working conditions



Informed by this history
 in the past ten years
 of freedom,
we have taken forward 
this form of trade unionism
 Whilst we maintain
 the tripartite Alliance 
as the key platform
 of
engaging with the transformation
 we have
 at the same time
sought to build coalitions
 with a range 
of other civil society formations

It would be very difficult 
for any conservative government 
in the future 
to isolate COSATU 
because we are integral part
 of
the society

 We believe 
that there is no future today 
for
narrow trade unions 
that only focus
 on bread and butter issues
 instead of taking vigorously
 issues of members
 that are equally issues 
of the broader working class 
and the poor as well

In the past ten years
 informed by this strategy 
we have sought
to position organised workers 
as the leading detachment 
of the working class 
- in a position 
that it will not just lead itself 
but lead all sections of the society

 On some occasions 
we have been successful
          sometimes not

Sometimes 
there been serious tensions 
between COSATU and the ANC led government
 but on balance 
we believe 
that we succeeded
 in ensuring that workers 
have the voice 
and that its message is understood 
in every aspect 
of transformation

On balance
 workers have made 
huge gains
 although we also 
have suffered serious setbacks

 But the struggle
 is never
going to run like clockwork

In November and December this year
 we hope to have 
a major conference 
to analyse 
the first ten years 
of South African freedom
 from the workers's point of view

Globalisation 
has had a huge impact
 on our experiences 
since 1994
 when we won democracy
 Under apartheid
 the sanctions campaign 
meant that our economy 
was largely isolated 
from the forces
 of globalisation building up
 in the 1970s and 80s

Then we opened our economy 
in record time in the 1990s
 just
as we achieved independence

As a result of this situation
 we experienced
 the shocks associated with globalisation 
in a condensed dose 
 - not a pleasant experience 
for tens of thousands of workers
 many of whom 
saw their jobs 
casualised or disappear
 their companies close down
 outsource or be swallowed up 
by foreign multinationals

The opening of the economy 
had three main effects 
on South African workers

 First
 thousands lost their jobs
 as companies faced
 a vast increase incompetition

 A few sectors
have managed 
to increase exports
 but mostly
 they are relatively capital intensive
 and create few jobs
 Yet today
unemployment in South Africa runs at 40%

 That is
 two out of every five 
adults 
is looking for work

 - and 
two of every three workers 
under 30 years old 
are jobless.

Unfortunately
 since 1994
 our main export growth 
has been in minerals
 auto and heavy chemicals
 hardly sectors 
that can dent 
the extraordinarily high levels 
of unemployment 
left by apartheid

Second
 in response to the risks 
of world capital flows
 in the late 1990s 
our government adopted 
the conservative fiscal and monetary policy
   known as GEAR

 Specifically
 GEAR was sold to our government 
as necessary to create
an  environment conducive 
to investment 
and to avoid 
the sort of crisis
 that hit Asia and Mexico 
in the mid-1990s

 COSATU still feels
there were alternatives

GEAR led to real cuts 
in the budget 
and interest rates 
of over 20% in the late 1990s

 Not surprisingly
 economic growth
             stagnated
 the public service downsized 
and unemployment
             soared in this period.

Since 2000
 the government 
      has increased its spending
                            substantially
 and
 relaxed monetary policy
 to some extent

COSATU does not feel 
it has gone far enough 
in either direction
 but at least it's an improvement.

Finally
 the government felt 
it had no choice
 but to adopt
unpopular policies 
including on privatisation

 and went against its stated objectives 
of deepening participatory
                     democracy

 Do not misunderstand: 
South Africa still has 
some of the strongest democratic institutions
 in the world

 But government has been very reluctant
 to open debates
 on macro- economic policy

 since it knows 
its own constituencies oppose
                       its positions.

Comrades and friends,

This is a very short and simplistic overview 
of how globalisation
 and specifically 
the opening of the economy
                   since 1994
         has affected South Africa
 If you want more
               detail
          you can look at our website
             The Secretariat Reports
                   to our Congresses 
                  include a detailed overview 
      of political
and economic developments.

South Africa's experience 
with globalisation is not unique
just rather more intense

 This was the finding 
of the ILO's
World Social Commission
 to which I belonged 
together with
the President of the AFL CIO
 John Sweeney

 That Commission
found that globalisation 
has led to 
the marginalisation
 and
impoverishment of millions
 Its results also demonstrate
 to the surprise of most people
 that globalisation 
has been associated 
with a slowdown in global growth
 in the past
       twenty years

Here
 it seems appropriate 
to speak to the lessons 
we have learned 
      from these hard experiences
 Above all
 our experience may help us 
explore how
 the international labour movement
 should respond to globalisation

 We need to reflect
           both 
      on the root causes 
         of this type of situation
   and on the realities of power 
               that shape our responses.

Generally
 the labour movement internationally 
has seen the joblessness and casualisation 
arising from globalisation
 as a problem of the race to the bottom

 That is
 increased world trade 
makes workers
 increasingly 
compete with each other

leading to worse security 
and lower incomes for all
 while only capital gains

 No one can doubt 
that trade sometimes
brings benefits 
- but growing trade
 under the control 
of the multinational corporations
 is much less likely
 to benefit workers.

Where we as a labour movement 
have been less strong
 however
has been to analyze 
what leads to this undercutting

Generally
 we have effectively given 
two reasons

First
 we have focused on countries
 where the State 
does not protect workers' rights
 or worse
 itself oppresses 
   and
attacks unions
 The solution then is obvious 
- to get the State to live up to
 its obligations to protect workers.

Second
 we have noted 
that national governments
 have lost considerable power 
as a result of globalisation

 They simply cannot control 
multinational firms
 the way they can discipline 
            domestic companies

 Moreover
 multilateral organisations 
like the WTO
 World Bank
 and the IMF 
can wield considerable power over small
                   poor developing states

This analysis leads 
to two main solutions
 On the one hand,
it leads 
to the emphasis
 on linking trade 
to core labour standards

 At least if workers 
can organise themselves
 they are less likely
 to end up 
competing on pay 
and conditions

 On the other hand
 it supports a focus 
on cross-border unity 
to negotiate
 with the multinationals directly
 Together
 workers in the North and South
 can unite and exercise 
their power against their bosses


Obviously
 these are important elements 
in any effort 
to make the international economy 
serve workers and the poor

 But our experience in South Africa
 suggests
 that they are simply not
                       enough

For one thing
 much of our production 
is not controlled by
               multinationals

 The main sectors
 where engagement 
with multinational companies 
makes sense for us 
are in auto pharmaceuticals
 and to a limited extent 
in clothing and appliances production

 The vast majority 
of our members work
in South African owned companies 
   and in the state sector

In addition
 there may be  
a fine line 
 between solidarity and dependence

 South African unions
 cannot afford 
to tell their members
just depend on solidarity 
from workers and consumers
in the North

 We need to find ways 
to control our own destiny
as part 
of the international labor movement.

For this reason

 the international labor movement
 needs to do more 
to focus on 
support for national development strategies

That in turn means
 unions in the South 
must engage
 with the state
 rather than just capital

  It also means
 that the international labor movement
 must increase pressure
 on the states of the North
 to stop sabotaging 
development efforts 
in the South

 whether directly 
or 
  through the WTO and IMF

Again
 our own experience underscores
 the need
 for this kind of shift in direction

 In South Africa
 the state has provided
 strong legal protection for workers
 It has reversed
the oppression of unions
 found under apartheid 
with protection 
for workers' organization
 the right to negotiate
and strike
 and strong measures
 to end child labor
 and
discrimination in the workplace
 It sets minimum pay 
for domestic, farm and other vulnerable workers

 as well as
regulating working time
 dismissals
 and health and safety 
for
all employees.

The fact is
 however
 that with soaring unemployment
 it is increasingly hard 
to enforce these laws
 Our people are
simply too desperate for work

 Moreover
 we have seen 
a flight 
        of some companies
             to neighboring countries
            which are
               even more impoverished.

Overall
 the job losses
 in manufacturing 
and mining 
since the mid-1990s 
mean that COSATU
 has not grown at all
 in the past three years
 after a decade
 in which it more than doubled in size.

In short, 
unless we can overcome
 the unemployment crisis,
 we
cannot ensure sustainable improvement
 in workers' conditions.

Simply having decent labour laws
 and a sympathetic state
                 isn't enough.

COSATU's Eighth Congress 
last year
 recognised this
 in its resolution 
    on a medium-term strategy
 which we call

"Consolidating working-class power,
 for quality jobs Toward 2015."

 A core commitment 
is to pressure
 business
 and
government
 to work with us 
to develop sector strategies
 to create sustainable employment
 We don't have time here 
to go in depth 
into our proposals 
for a development strategy 
for South Africa

. Our core demand
 is that government 
            and business
do more
 to restructure
   the formal sector 
      toward job- creating growth. 

That means, above all, 
supporting expansion
 in light industry and services,
 which were both hard hit 
by the opening of the economy 
in the early 1990s.

To achieve this aim,
 South Africa 
must back off from 
the current trade strategy, 
which seeks to lower barriers 
to trade at all costs.
 We need a more differentiated approach
that will let us
 build up new capacity 
and kinds of production over time. 
Moreover, we need a more careful
                   approach
 to shape access 
to world markets
 so that it will
create jobs on balance,
             and not destroy them.

But we also need to focus more 
on industries that produce 
for
the local and regional market.
 To take an example, 
only 20%
of our clothing production 
goes for exports.
 Of that, around
a third goes to 
the rest of Africa. 
We need to develop 
a strategy 
that relies 
 not just on engaging 
the multinationals 
and brand names from the North,
 but on meeting
the needs of our people 
in South Africa 
and in neighbouring countries.
 A stronger focus 
on meeting local needs 
will insulate us 
to a limited extent 
from the negative effects
 of globalisation.

This type of approach,
 which engages
 both employers and the state
 reflects the long-term experience 
of the labour movement worldwide.
 Unions have always 
had the greatest successes 
where they have gotten
 the state to establish 
an enabling environment.
 In the modern world,
 the state plays a critical role
 in shaping the circumstances 
in which we work.

We cannot simply ignore it.
 At the same time, 
we in the labour movement
 have a critical role to play
 in disciplining business,
 both at home and abroad,
 so that it cannot simply
exploit our people.


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end of part one 

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