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Johannesburg - If National Union of Metalworkers of SA (Numsa) leaves Cosatu it will not be out of choice, the metalworkers' union said on Thursday.
"Today they are saying if we define ourselves we'll be taking a particular path which possibly could lead to us being dismissed," Numsa general secretary Irvin Jim told reporters in Boksburg.
"If the federation chooses to dismiss Numsa it will not be a Numsa decision, it will be a decision of the federation."
He said Numsa's decision to open its recruitment scope was not being done because the union wanted to leave the Congress of SA Trade Unions (Cosatu).
"That decision will be a decision the federation would take itself.
Crisis?
"We don't think there is a crisis. There is no sky that is going to fall if Numsa broadens the scope," Jim said.
Numsa on Wednesday said it would not turn away any workers who wanted to join the union.
"It is difficult to turn away workers who want to voluntarily join Numsa, particularly when they are likely to go to non-Cosatu unions," Jim told the congress.
"We will no longer reject any worker."
This went against Cosatu's one union, one industry policy.
Jim said the Numsa congress was discussing all these matters and would make resolutions which would then be taken to Cosatu.
Robust debate
He said there had been robust debate in the commissions and discussions had been cordial.
Jim on Thursday said people had spent months trying to rubbish Numsa and told lies about the union when workers had come to it voluntarily asking to join.
"Enough is enough, we [are] no longer going to handle propaganda," he said.
Cosatu expressed concern on Thursday about Numsa's debate on its scope of recruiting members.
Acting general secretary Bheki Ntshalintshali said the matter should have been discussed first at the federation level.
Union tampering
Cosatu president Sidumo Dlamini said any union tampering with the federation's principles turned itself into a general union that disrupted Cosatu, causing workers to fight and kill each other.
Numsa is holding a special national congress. On Thursday delegates were in commissions discussing the problems facing Cosatu and the union's approach to next year's elections.
Suspended Cosatu general secretary Zwelinzima Vavi addressed the congress on Wednesday night.
Cosatu on Thursday said Vavi's attendance was a contravention of the trade union federation's central executive committee decision.
Vavi suspension
Vavi was put on special leave earlier this year after having an affair with a junior Cosatu employee. Numsa, an ally of Vavi's, is challenging Cosatu's decision to suspend Vavi in court.
On Thursday, Jim said Vavi was invited in his personal capacity.
"We are not apologetic for inviting Zwelinzima Vavi. From where we are sitting he has not committed any crime," he said.
