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Cape Town - It’s been a tumultuous and confusing week on the labour front, says Terry Bell in his latest Labour Wrap.
Four months down the line, the postal strike, certainly in Gauteng, is still going strong. Workers have now been dismissed and the Post Office board has been sacked. Parliament has also instructed the workers to go back to jobs they no longer have.
This is one aspect that continues directly to affect individuals, communities and businesses on the ground. But, says Bell, of much greater importance is the chain of events set in motion when the majority of the Cosatu executive decided to expel the National Union of Metalworkers (Numsa).
This action, he says, is perhaps the most important political development in South Africa since 1994. It is a process that not only seriously damages the labour movement, but also undermines the power of the governing ANC and the disproportionate influence exerted by the small South African Communist Party (SACP).
Just as importantly, the ripple effects if Cosatu fragments into chaos will have a profound and hurtful effect on the economy and South Africa's fragile democracy.
The only obvious means to sort out this mess before it descends into disaster would be to organise the special national congress called for some 15 months ago by Numsa and eight other Cosatu affiliates. This, says Bell, would allow the rank and file delegates of Cosatu unions to democratically decide on the various issues now being fought over at bureaucratic level.
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However, Bell maintains the majority of the Cosatu executive, along with the ANC and SACP, do not want such a meeting as they fear it may result in a change both in the Cosatu leadership and the political orientation of most affiliates. A break with the alliance would amount to a major loss financially as well as politically for the two parties.
The fact that Numsa decided to leave the alliance is given as a reason for the expulsion. But there is no requirement for Cosatu affiliates to support the alliance.
In fact, at the 1993 Cosatu congress, Numsa tabled a resolution for Cosatu to leave the ANC. The motion lost and Numsa remained an affiliate of Cosatu and continued to support the ANC-led alliance — until its special congress last December.
* Add your voice to the big labour debate or simply ask Terry a labour question.
ALSO READ:
Behind the Numsa expulsion
Numsa exit crucial for 2019 election - economistWatershed moment for labour relations The union numbers game
- Terry Bell is a political, economic and labour analyst. Views expressed are his own. Follow him on twitter @telbelsa.
Four months down the line, the postal strike, certainly in Gauteng, is still going strong. Workers have now been dismissed and the Post Office board has been sacked. Parliament has also instructed the workers to go back to jobs they no longer have.
This is one aspect that continues directly to affect individuals, communities and businesses on the ground. But, says Bell, of much greater importance is the chain of events set in motion when the majority of the Cosatu executive decided to expel the National Union of Metalworkers (Numsa).
This action, he says, is perhaps the most important political development in South Africa since 1994. It is a process that not only seriously damages the labour movement, but also undermines the power of the governing ANC and the disproportionate influence exerted by the small South African Communist Party (SACP).
Just as importantly, the ripple effects if Cosatu fragments into chaos will have a profound and hurtful effect on the economy and South Africa's fragile democracy.
The only obvious means to sort out this mess before it descends into disaster would be to organise the special national congress called for some 15 months ago by Numsa and eight other Cosatu affiliates. This, says Bell, would allow the rank and file delegates of Cosatu unions to democratically decide on the various issues now being fought over at bureaucratic level.
Watch
However, Bell maintains the majority of the Cosatu executive, along with the ANC and SACP, do not want such a meeting as they fear it may result in a change both in the Cosatu leadership and the political orientation of most affiliates. A break with the alliance would amount to a major loss financially as well as politically for the two parties.
The fact that Numsa decided to leave the alliance is given as a reason for the expulsion. But there is no requirement for Cosatu affiliates to support the alliance.
In fact, at the 1993 Cosatu congress, Numsa tabled a resolution for Cosatu to leave the ANC. The motion lost and Numsa remained an affiliate of Cosatu and continued to support the ANC-led alliance — until its special congress last December.
* Add your voice to the big labour debate or simply ask Terry a labour question.
ALSO READ:
Behind the Numsa expulsion
Numsa exit crucial for 2019 election - economist
- Terry Bell is a political, economic and labour analyst. Views expressed are his own. Follow him on twitter @telbelsa.
