Striker+orgy+of+destruction+will+exhaust+goodwill,+Terry+Bell,++B+Rep

Business Report, Johannesburg, May 19, 2006
=Strikers' orgy of destruction will exhaust goodwill=


 * By Terry Bell**

South Africa's labour movement is reeling. There is widespread recognition that the orgy of destruction unleashed on the streets of Cape Town on Tuesday in the name of trade unionism has dissipated the considerable tide of goodwill the unions had built up from the general public.

The rampaging mob, comprising mostly proclaimed members of the SA Transport and Allied Workers' Union (Satawu), attacked bystanders, wrecked cars and smashed windows. This was no festival of the oppressed, no riot of the hungry to redistribute food. It was vandalism, pure and simple, and a classic example of how to lose friends and alienate people.

On one level, as an outpouring of anger by frustrated and underpaid men and some women who have been wage-less and increasingly desperate for two months now, some of the violence can be understood. It cannot be justified.

This is a view that is emerging throughout all levels of the labour movement.

And while there is almost certainly some truth in the allegation by Satawu members that agents provocateurs were involved, this excuse will largely fall on deaf ears.

In any event, even if this can be proved, it merely reveals that large numbers of the marchers on Tuesday were prepared to be provoked and that union leadership and disciplined structure through elected shop stewards were absent.

These facts may provide an abrupt and brutal lesson to some union officials who have allowed themselves to drift into a complacent bureaucracy while overseeing the withering away of democratic shop floor organisation. That alone might have been sufficient to curtail the bouts of violence over the past eight weeks.

Quite simply, with several deaths still being investigated, the violence has, at least in the public perception, been linked to the strike.

This has bolstered the position of employers while angering and intimidating fellow workers.

That the work of security guards is often dangerous is accepted - as, generally, is the fact that workers who risk life and limb protecting the wealth of the rich for wages as low as R1 150 a month cannot be expected to be placid individuals.

When it is also taken into account that several of the highly profitable companies in the burgeoning security sector are managed by elements of the former apartheid security services, the mix becomes potentially volatile.

In addition, when the minister of labour remains aloof as the situation escalates and does not exercise his authority to intervene, the level of frustration can only increase.

These were all impressions and arguments that Satawu media officer Ronnie Mamba, general secretary Randall Howard and others in the union were quite successful at projecting.

And despite the initial violence, there was every indication that the security workers enjoyed widespread support. Then, on the eve of the general strike called by Cosatu to protest against ongoing poverty and the loss of jobs, the image not only of Cosatu, but of the labour movement as a whole, was besmirched. It certainly affected support for the strike.

The conspiracy theorists will doubtless have a field day because of the coincidence. Yet that is almost certainly what it was: a coincidence. But a happy one for the enemies of labour.

Another factor in the dispute has been the relative plethora of unions in the sector. But poor service to union members is a major reason for this. That this development has also been encouraged by some employers, there is no doubt.

Employers have been fairly astute at playing a divide and rule game with the union movement.

But inter-union rivalry and the refusal of established unions often to admit to, and address, shortcomings has been a boon to the bosses.

There are already 16 registered unions in the sector and several that are not yet registered. At least one registered union apparently came into being via a deal struck between a "labour consultant" and an employer. But several others emerged after expressions of dissatisfaction with already established unions.

These tensions and divisions in the union movement have been highlighted by recent events. They have come to the fore at a time when business is mounting a concerted effort to amend the labour laws.

A particular target is chapter 8 of the Labour Relations Act, and especially section 189. This section restricts the ability of employers to dismiss workers on the grounds of operational requirements.

"Ease of hiring and firing" is the management mantra of the moment as corporate profits continue to climb amid a vast sea of poverty and joblessness. It will be tragic should the events of Tuesday undermine the principled position of the unions on this issue.


 * From: http://busrep.co.za/index.php?fSectionId=553&fArticleId=3252779**

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