Our+members+and+leaders+are+being+killed,+Satawu,The+Star

Our members and leaders are being killed - Satawu

 * Bonile Ngqiyaza**

Several members of the SA Transport and Allied Workers' Union have been killed in violence during the six-week-long strike.

Satawu vice-president June Dube and national labour co-ordinator Jackson Simon announced yesterday that the security guards had died. But they first denied that any Satawu members had been linked to the deaths of six commuters thrown off a moving train last week.

"Our members are being killed," Dube said. "We have buried how many over the weekend? Four members. Two are from Giyani, one is from Matatiele and another one is from Mthatha."

Simon echoed Dube and said the media had its facts wrong. "The people who have been killed are members of Satawu. In some cases, (people in) leadership (positions) have been assassinated."

Simon said incidents where members had behaved in an unruly or violent manner had dropped substantially since a meeting of shop stewards at the weekend.

Satawu has blamed non-members for unlawful and criminal acts during demonstrations and rallies.

Satawu president Ezrom Mabyana said while they had full control of their members, there were often members of the 14 other security industry unions at demonstrations.

At the same time, Mabyana admitted reluctantly that things did sometimes get out of control during the demonstrations, saying: "The reason is that our members are always being provoked."

He said this was also the case at the chaotic Cosatu rally in central Cape Town on Workers' Day.

Mabyana said an employee representative had taunted the Satawu strikers, asking why they wanted Labour Minister Membathisi Mdladlana's intervention in the dispute.

He quoted the individual as saying: "Mdladlana was not the messiah, so why were they calling for him to intervene?"

"If people are provoked, you can't stop them," said Mabyana. "Even if the leadership were there, they would not have been able to stop them.

"(But) our constitution is very clear (on matters like these). It will be applied if there are people who have violated it."

The Satawu officials were emphatic that the strike would not be called off. "We would definitely consider calling it off if we (had) lost control of our membership, but we have not lost control."

Meanwhile Mdladlana has expressed concern at what he termed the "arrogance displayed by security industry employers".

"I assume that because their profits are not affected by this strike that continues to harm ordinary South Africans, they do not care. Employers must remember that it is the South African public that contributes to their riches," he said.

A spokesperson for five associations representing the employers, Steve Friswell, was surprised at Mdladlana's comments, particularly as they had been to the Labour Department in the morning to submit to him a copy of the agreement with the 14 unions.

Mdladlana said earlier that the employers should realise that their agreement with the 14 unions was not worth the paper it was written on.

"I therefore appeal to employers to swallow their pride and return to the negotiating table. Satawu is the majority union, according to Labour Department official records.

"This follows that no agreement can hold without their involvement," he said.

Figures cited in the Labour Court ruling last week indicate that the 14 unions have a combined membership of 27 000 while Satawu has 34 370 paid-up members.

bonile.ngqiyaza@inl.co.za


 * From: http://www.thestar.co.za/index.php?fArticleId=3227553**

565 words



=Up date on SATAWU Action=

Date: May 02, 2006

The revolutionary struggle in the security sector is a legitimate and just one aimed at correcting the grave imbalances that pertain in the security sector between employer and employee.

It is a strike that seeks to underscore the call by labour, especially SATAWU that the industrial space belongs not to one class of people, but to both worker, manager and director. It is a struggle that highlights the extent of the frustration our comrades face in the security sector, where there is rampant use of unfair labour practice, abuse of illegal immigrants, use of unskilled labour and where the voice of the employer is the alpha and the omega while the employee is treated as just an optional extra in the production line.

Justified as our action in the security sector maybe however, we as SATAWU can not afford to sit back and not condemn the action of the last couple of weeks, where violence and intimidation have characterized our protest actions. We are well aware that many elements join in our actions for the purpose of furthering their own criminal ends. We believe that this is precisely where our test of character should prevail, where we should be able to apprehend whoever is doing that and hand them over to the police. We hereby call on our members to do that as a matter of urgency so that we leave nobody in any doubt that criminals and counter revolutionary elements are being used to taint our image and to further protract this dispute.

We are aware also of some cases of extreme provocation that our members are subjected to, especially by the state police. However even in the face of all this, we wish to call for restraint.

Comrades, if we do not heed this call, this just struggle faces the ominous risk of going down in history as one that alienated labour from the general populace. We can not afford to do that because our struggle is not just a SATAWU struggle or a security sector struggle but it is part of the bigger struggle for social transformation. We must not forget that we hold our democratic principles very dear. Those principles, among other things, value and embrace diversity of opinion, for it is in the multiplicity of opinions that the best opinions emerge.

Over the past weekend, we called together a meeting of shop stewards in Gauteng and in this meeting the shop stewards made a commitment to ensuring that our action retains its peaceful and focused character. We were assured by this layer of our leadership that unruly elements will be weeded out and discipline will be maintained at all times.

We distance ourselves from these deaths. Allegations principally from the media, which attempted to link these deaths to the security action and to SATAWU per se, have never been proven even after two weeks of intensive work by the police.
 * The death of Six commuters:**

With regards to yesterday’s protests in Cape Town, we continue to get conflicting reports from eye witnesses about how things transpired and as leadership we will formulate a position on it after we have assessed all the reports we are getting.
 * May Day in Cape Town**

Workers belonging to SATAWU staged a sit in at the department of Labour. Police we called to remove them and in the process police fired rubber bullets. In the commotion that ensued, property was damaged. Three of our members were injured and taken to hospital. They have since been discharged. Nine others were arrested and were released on bail on Sunday evening.
 * Friday’s March in Durban:**

SATAWU welcomes the minister’s call for both parties to return to the negotiations. In the interest of progress, we believe that employers need to reconsider their attitude towards the talks and make themselves available for negotiations so that there could be finality on this matter.
 * Mdladlana’s call for return to the table:**

We should make it clear however that we are disappointed that the minister’s call came so late. We may urge him to be more responsive in future and not wait till an action is already at crisis point. Nevertheless we believe that it will add impetus to our call for the employers to return to the negotiating table.

During Friday’s meeting between SATAWU leadership and Police Commissioner Jackie Selebi, the issue of police brutality and their bias was discussed extensively. While the two parties differed in some respects, the Commissioner agreed that as head of an institution in charge of the Safety and Security of people and property, he was going to convene a meeting between SATAWU and the employers to further urge them to find a solution to the matter. The meeting is set for this Friday.
 * Police Commissioner;**

COSATU is convening a special CEC meeting tomorrow to decide how they will mobilize further support for the security action. They are in full support of the strike and have pledged solidarity with us.
 * COSATU:**

They have recorded their own frustration in not being able to make any headway in convincing employers to return to the negotiations. They recognize the importance of negotiations and are willing to mediate and assist in finding closure to the matter, but there is no cooperation from the employers.
 * CCMA:**

Finally we wish to reiterate calls to the employers that have been already made by the minister and the CCMA to consider returning to the negotiations. We are ready and willing to meet them, but the strike itself continues.

Issued on Tuesday: May 02, 2006


 * Contact: Jackson Simon (sector Coordinator for Security; 082 347 2529)**
 * Ronnie Mamba 082 646 5353**