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THE economic situation is getting worse, with what limited growth there has been going to make the richest 1% of the world’s population even richer, says Terry Bell in his latest Labour Wrap. This fact, he notes, is clearly underlined in the latest Oxfam report on poverty.
The report was released this week as the annual World Economic Forum gathering in the snowbound Swiss resort of Davos got under way. Bell points out that he has written several times in the past about this meeting, staged by what is a private club of 1 000 of the richest business people in the world who “bribe, bully and flatter” political elites to pursue policies that favour the rich.
He did not want to do so again, although he was tempted, especially given this year’s WEF slogan: “Creating a shared future in a fractured world.” This, he maintains, “reeks of hypocrisy” since the the very system supported by the WEF is the cause of the fractures.
However, he notes that the reality outlined in the Oxfam report has made the role of the labour movement more important than ever. Working people - the sellers of labour - are the victims and unions are the main organised power they have.
Now there are signs that the South African unions are starting to move into action and in some new ways. With labour federation Cosatu calling for unity “across union sectors”, Bell points out that the South African Federation of Trade Unions (Saftu) has received justifiable credit for forcing the hand of the National Prosecuting Authority on corruption.
The Public Servants Association of South Africa (PSA) is also continuing to put pressure on the government and Finance Minister Malusi Gigaba over the way the Pubic Investment Corporation has been operating.
And last Friday the PSA, backed by Saftu, staged a “raid” on Steinhoff headquarters to collect financial and administration documents; this because government worker pension funds were invested by the PIC in the imploding company.
These, says Bell, are promising beginnings, but there is still a very long way to go towards any real turnaround.
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