PRESIDENT Jacob Zuma will no doubt have a splendid reception when he turns up at Gallagher Estate in Midrand on Monday morning for the opening of Cosatu's four-day Congress.
Zuma is the workers' man - the hero they rescued from humiliation and elevated to the highest office in the country. He was going to give them their way against the capitalists - or so they believed.
Yes, there is a large degree of truth in that but, as an observer in the inner circles of government's decision-making processes put it shortly after Zuma's inauguration: "They have a collar around Zuma's neck, but there are in fact a number of collars around his neck."
From the list of proposed resolutions prepared for the Congress, it's clear that Cosatu is brimming with self-confidence. Here and there, there are even signs of compromises that will be unavoidable.
And when the President's cortege leaves after his opening address, and the discussion programme for the rest of the week starts, there will be hard debate and leading figures in the trade union federation will at times have to raise their voices to bring unruly and emotional speakers back to reality and order.
Yes, the outdated socialist slogans will, as always, be evident in many of the resolutions, such as the demand that key economic assets in the economy must be nationalised - to wit Sasol. In the aftermath of the Zuma takeover observers will probably be giving this greater attention, but every Cosatu Congress since the early 90s has had this wording in its resolutions - including the nationalisation of Sasol.
Despite the recent debates on nationalisation in the mining industry there is no chance that the Zuma administration will adopt a different path from that of its predecessor in this respect.
The question is: how many of the resolutions that are adopted will lead to policy changes in government? There are one or two that are fairly likely to...
Just as within the ANC, there are deep divisions within Cosatu about supporting Zuma's candidacy for the leadership of the ANC.
As the previous Congress in 2006 a bitter leadership struggle arose regarding the removal of Willie Madisha, the former president. This failed at the Congress, but a year later the Zuma camp managed to expel Madisha from the trade union federation on technicalities.
The Mbeki camp, with Numsa - one of the largest unions in the federation - was then without a leader and effectively beaten. But the time has now arrived to heal the wounds of the past.
Numsa, which dominates labour relations principally in the manufacturing sector, particularly in the metal and engineering industries and more especially in the motor industry, now has a new leadership that needs to be consolidated.
It is difficult to avoid noting that Numsa has proposed most of the controversial draft resolutions.
At the Congress, black economic empowerment (BEE) will probably be identified as one of the main disappointments of the Mbeki administration. A joint draft resolution drawn up by Numsa and the public service trade union Nehawu declares that BEE deals have created black millionaires but have done absolutely nothing for workers. BEE in government contracts, for instance, often leads to corruption.
"BEE must be reviewed to address its shortcomings, keeping the challenges of economic transformation in mind, especially the establishment of a strong manufacturing sector," the draft resolution reads.
And two points further, the proposal is made that Cosatu should relentlessly press employers to accelerate equal employment (a less charged synonym for affirmative action) and expose companies that are slow to reform.
Companies that fail to comply with the Employment Equity Act should be reported and non-compliance criminalised.
This is an entirely new slant for Cosatu. The trade union federation has to date somewhat neglected affirmative action, probably because it could have a divisive effect on membership.
Just before the appointment of firebrand Jimmy Manyi, the chairperson of the Commission for Employment Equity, as Director-General of Labour, he had been making similar noises. One needs to be blind not to see that something is brewing.
But at the same time there is an emphasis on training not seen at previous Congresses - in the resolution on BEE and affirmative action, but also in resolutions on the global economic crisis, government infrastructure programmes and economic stimulation.
"Training centres that were shut down during the 90s (in particular technical colleges) must be re-opened. Target critical skills within and outside the Merseta [the Seta for the manufacturing industry]."
The resolution also proposes that the ratio between artisans and apprentices be restored from one to four.
Minister of Labour Membathisi Mdladlana is being harshly criticised because his proposals for the regulation of labour brokers do not accord with election promises that labour brokers would be banned.
But Cosatu will not get much further than labour regulation on this one - the election manifesto was emotionally worded, but vague enough to give Mdladlana room to manoeuvre. "Address the problem of labour broking and prohibit certain abusive practices" was the manifesto's wording.
- Fin24.com