Wrong+idea+of+consensus+steers+Transnet+machine,+Bell,+B+Rep



=Wrong idea of consensus steers Transnet machine=

Business Report, Johannesburg, March 10, 2006

 * Terry Bell, Inside Labour**

Transnet management has been insensitive and arrogant in making decisions affecting thousands of workers without bothering to consult them. This is the view not only of the transport unions, but also of much of the wider organised labour movement.

However, such behaviour tends to be regarded merely as a symptom of a deeper malaise that affects the government as whole.

Other symptoms are said to range from the ongoing electricity crisis to the simmering discontent over municipal service delivery. Also listed are the financial losses at SAA and the massive job shedding at Telkom.

"It is all symptomatic of the pursuit of the demands of the Washington consensus," says Dennis George, the acting general secretary of the Federation of Unions of SA, quoting Harvard economist Dani Rodrik.

Rodrik maintains that this model, encapsulated in the slogan "stabilise, privatise and liberalise", has failed.

In January he wrote: "While the lessons drawn by proponents and sceptics differ, it is fair to say that nobody really believes in the Washington consensus anymore. The question now is not whether the consensus is dead or alive, it is what will replace it."

So far as the unions are concerned, the government's Gear concept was spawned by that consensus. Its successor, the widely promoted accelerated and shared growth initiative, is perceived as a mere clone, also based on the idea that economic growth will lead to redistribution.

In other words, the government and its often creaking parastatals have remained unmoved by the widespread and growing scepticism about the formulaic, trickle-down approach to economic policy.

In the face of the recent crises, the unions have become more strident in advocating that it is redistribution that will lead to growth, a position they have held for the better part of a decade.

The federations are keener than ever to spell out what their position means: a comprehensive industrial strategy, based on full consultation with "all stakeholders", which is geared toward "benefits for the majority rather than profits for the few".

"Instead," says United Transport and Allied Trade Union (Utatu) general secretary Chris De Vos, "managers of state-owned enterprises or government representatives turn up at negotiating forums, not to discuss issues, but to tell us what they have decided."

This point was raised again when public enterprises minister Alec Erwin met representatives of the transport unions yesterday afternoon in a bid to avert the nationwide strike planned for Monday. The unions also repeated why they were so angry about developments at Transnet.

"Quite simply, we have been lied to," says SA Transport and Allied Workers' Union (Satawu) media officer Ronnie Mamba.

Despite Transnet's claims to the contrary, Satawu general secretary Randall Howard maintains that talks were never held with the unions over the transfer of Metrorail and its 9 000 employees to the SA Rail Commuter Corporation.

"This was done behind our backs even although issues such as the pensions of the workers had not been resolved," he says.

This is why the unions are seeking a court interdict to stop the April 1 transfer going through.

But a more immediate concern is the possible action of management should the national rail strike go ahead on Monday.

In a letter to the Transnet management this week, the four unions involved in the current dispute wrote: "It would be an act of criminal negligence to place the safety of commuters at risk merely for the sake of scoring a few short-term points against workers engaging in a lawful and protected strike."

Utatu's De Vos says: "We have seen that they are prepared to employ scab drivers whose abilities and qualifications we are not aware of.

"We are very concerned, both about the immediate situation and the fact that Transnet and the government seem willing to ignore mechanisms for consultation such as the national framework agreement and Nedlac."

This is likely to be a major issue at Erwin's meeting with the labour federations, which is scheduled for Monday, whether or not there is a national rail strike.

The unions may then point out, as SA Municipal Workers' Union general secretary Roger Ronnie did yesterday, that they have been telling the government for years that public utilities were in serious need of an overhaul.

"There has been a complete failure to sort out aging infrastructure; instead it was hoped that these neglected entities would prove attractive to private investors," says Ronnie. "But as with water, which is a good example, the private sector soon realised that there is no profit in distributing services to the poor."

Cosatu's Western Cape regional secretary, Tony Ehrenreich, agrees. He also notes: "And regarding the power cuts, we should perhaps blame a few neo-liberal nuts rather than a bolt that fell into a Koeberg generator."


 * From: http://www.busrep.co.za/index.php?fSectionId=553&fArticleId=3148891**

807 words