In+praise+of+labour+movement+virtues,+Neva+Makgetla,+Business+Day

Business Day, Johannesburg, 25 August 2006
=In praise of labour movement’s overlooked virtues=


 * Neva Makgetla**

TO PARAPHRASE a famous paradox, many commentators love the labour movement — it’s unions they can’t stand.

Unions loom large in civil society, which modern thinking sees as central to both democracy and development.

They represent people who are largely marginalised, yet through collective action exercise some power. The combination means they often challenge projects that are cherished by business, the media and government officials. Which does not, of course, mean that the unions always get it right.

The South African Labour Force Survey found that outside of domestic work and agriculture, 40% of workers belonged to a union in September last year. This is about the same level as many European countries, and higher than most developing economies. There were about 3-million union members, and about two-thirds belonged to Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu) affiliates.

Half of the workers for companies with about 50 employees are union members, but only a quarter are union members in smaller enterprises.

In mining and the public service, more than 75% of employees belonged to unions, compared with 40% in manufacturing and under 25% in retail and construction.

Most workers join a union mostly to improve their pay and conditions and gain protection from their employers.

According to the Labour Force Survey, union membership brings real economic benefits to lower-level workers in particular.

In September last year, the median pay for elementary workers who belonged to a union was about R2500 a month, compared with R1000 for nonmembers.

Among factory workers, union members had median pay of R2500, compared with the R1500 for nonmembers.

Union members are also much more likely to get benefits. For instance, nine out of 10 had retirement funds in September last year, compared with a third of nonmembers.

Finally, modern labour laws rely on unions to monitor violations. Union members are far more likely actually to enjoy their legal rights than nonmembers. Thus, 90% of union members have a written contract and get paid leave, compared with less than two-thirds of nonmembers.

In short, in the face of SA’s massive inequalities in economic power, the unions certainly help level the playing field. That does not endear them to some employers, especially those that employ relatively unskilled workers who, without a union, would likely get well under R1000 a month.

The difference in conditions for mine and farm workers is instructive. Through the 1980s, both these sectors were notorious for very low pay and appalling working conditions. Since the 1980s, the mines have been organised, but agriculture remains virtually outside the labour movement. As a result, conditions now diverge sharply.

Last September, median pay for miners had risen to about R2000 a month, while half of all farm workers earned under R750. Virtually all miners enjoyed paid leave, a retirement fund and a written contract, compared with half or fewer of farm workers. Only 9% of miners, but 17% of farm workers, worked more than 60 hours a week.

Employers often complain that the unions, and the labour laws, make it too hard to fire workers. But for lower-level factory and elementary workers, retrenchment with just a week or two of notice is common. These workers also experience massive racism in the workplace. A survey last year by Cosatu found that one in seven black workers faces racial abuse on the job.

While union members join to improve conditions in the workplace, they often find that their problems can be solved only if they engage on broader policy issues. This understanding means that the labour movement has become a critical voice in civil society.

Often Cosatu is the only group other than business and sometimes the South African Council of Churches to comment on economic legislation. In Nedlac (the National Economic Development and Labour Council), engagement by the unions has done a lot to ensure that draft legislation responds to the realities facing most South Africans.

The unions’ views may be unpalatable to the powerful, and sometimes unrealistic. But they reflect the problems faced by ordinary workers.

Simply to ignore or try to suppress them would undermine democracy. It would be the kind of solution Brecht proposed for the 1952 uprising in East Berlin: “The people are revolting against the central committee. The solution is simple: we should dissolve the people and elect another.”


 * Makgetla is a Congress of South African Trade Unions economist.


 * From: http://www.businessday.co.za/articles/opinion.aspx?ID=BD4A256692**

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