Erwin,+Ramos+face+trouble,+Bell,+B+Report+plus+4-union+statement

Business Report, Johannesburg, February 24, 2006
=Erwin, Ramos face early ides of March=


 * by Terry Bell**

The ides of March could come early for Transnet chief executive officer Maria Ramos and for public enterprises minister Alec Erwin. Unless basic union demands are met, March 6 could be the climax where knives will be drawn in the struggle between the transport unions on the one hand and the management and the minister on the other.

Except that the transport unions are likely to have the support of much of the trade union movement in what could develop into a general rather than a national transport strike.

Comments by Erwin that the strike is “misguided and lacks clear objectives” and the implication that transport union leaders are misleading their members seem far off the mark. There was extensive debate and discussion among the members of all the Transnet unions in the weeks leading up to action agreed by the overwhelming majority of unionised workers.

The debate also extended into much of the rest of the labour movement and support for the transport workers seems to be strong -- and growing.

This is scarcely surprising, since the unions, from bitter experience, have seen that terms such as “restructuring” and “commercialisation” when referring to state assets are merely euphemisms for privatisation. And bitter experience has also shown that privatisation, in part or in total, invariably leads to job losses.

“So when minister Erwin claims that there will not be thousands of jobs lost, he is just playing with words,” says United Transport and Allied Trade Union (Utatu) general secretary, Chris de Vos. He adds that Erwin’s comment is “rather strange” since Ramos has already admitted that there will be job losses.

The comments of Erwin and Ramos also elicited some unprintable responses from trade unionists who pointed out that the verbal dishonesty about job losses extended to creating unemployment by means of “voluntary severance packages” and early retirement offers.

There is also plenty of evidence that Transnet management has ridden roughshod over demands by workers that they, through their unions, be involved in decisions about their future and the future of a publicly owned utility.

“But then Transnet is a company where the human resources department is in tatters and where human resource functions have been outsourced to a consultancy that we believe is being paid as much as R20m,” says SA Transport and Allied Workers’ Union (Satawu) policy research officer, Jane Barrett.

Against this background, the union federations, pushed by their affiliates and also bound by policies opposing privatisation, have either come out in full support of the transport workers or are about to make that decision.

Cosatu, to whom Satawu is affiliated, has already declared its full support for “mass action in defence of workers’ rights and for a transport service that puts people before profit”.

The Federation of Unions of SA (Fedusa) national executive is expected to adopt the same position when it meets next week. Utatu is a Fedusa affiliate.

The National Council of Trade Unions (Nactu), in line with its anti-privatisation policy, has also pledged “full support for any action”.

Says Nactu general secretary Mahlomola Skhosana: “This is a matter that concerns us all. What Transnet proposes is merely applying the Washington consensus and working people cannot benefit from that.”

The Communication Workers’ Union (CWU) which has fought a bruising and losing battle against job losses, is particularly incensed by developments at Transnet.

“We are right behind the transport workers, because we know what happened to us with the commercialisation and partial privatisation of Telkom,” says CWU spokesperson Mfanafuthi Sithebe.

The CWU estimates that 30 000 jobs were lost as a result of the move to a solely profit-based entity.

“Whenever state enterprises are restructured, profit becomes king, workers become dispensable and nobody calculates the social cost,” says Sithebe.

This point has been made consistently by Satawu general secretary, Randall Howard and it is one that has resonance throughout the labour movement.

What the transport unions are seeking are guarantees from Transnet about job retention. They do not oppose restructuring in the sense that business units within Transnet will become more effective and efficient, but they do not want this at the expense of jobs.

Because they have been excluded from meaningful discussions with Transnet management and have not been given guarantees about job retention, they have taken action that Erwin himself suggested

When he met transport union representatives last year Erwin told the unions that that it was not with him, but Ramos that the unions should deal.

“And we reminded him this week that he also told us at the time that if we needed to take to the streets over negotiations with Ramos, we should do so,” De Vos.

Unless there is a settlement in the next two weeks, it seems likely that more than the transport workers will be taking to the streets on March 6.


 * From:** **http://www.busrep.co.za/index.php?fSectionId=553&fArticleId=3128840**


 * //Message from Ronnie Mamba received via COSATU://**

(“Please receive on the attached copy [facsimile of] the signed confirmation by all four Unions to participate in the strike on March 06”.)

Also, please be informed also that there is a strike action by Nationwide workers over conditions of service in that airline. It is concentrated in JIA and DIA. Workers have accused this airline of racially dividing workers.

(1) They have agreed to recognize a white union, Solidarity, which has 166 members (2) Refused to recognize SATAWU, a predominantly black union with 300 members (3) They have remained lily white in management and have reused absolutely to recognize government initiatives such as employment equity act. (4) They have been calling workers individually to threaten them (5) They have told them that they can join a union, as long as it is NOT SATAWU. (6) They have refused SATAWU even the right to picket. (7) Lastly, they have locked 40 workers out and banished them from the company for going on strike.

We condemn them unreservedly and warn them that if they are not prepared to follow South African rules, they better relocate.


 * Ronnie Mamba, SATAWU, 082 646 5353**

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