Economic policy from below: COSATU unions' "radical reform" project

Labour Le Travail, 2001

1987

The racially based South African state has always served to buttress severe forms of labour exploitation. It has been, historically and in contemporary struggles, a cardinal force shaping the form, character and goals of the progressive, non-racial, trade union movement. This is not to imply that the state was, and is, a determining force in this regard. Such theorization would deemphasize the dimension of leadership and the potential choices that emerge within tactical and strategic debates. Our own approach in attempting to assess the direction and potential of contemporary trade unionism in South Africa, would be to assert the critical importance of these tactical and strategic debates. We would argue that fundamental differences in the perceptions of the trade union role exist, differences that have divided the trade union movement since unions first emerged in nineteenth-century Europe. The division lies between those who discern significant potential in trade union activity, and those who argue that such activity does not in itself facilitate (indeed some hold that it may even inhibit) the transformation of capitalist society. Hyman refers to the former as the optimistic tradition and the latter as the pessimistic tradition. (1) These differences need to be thoroughly debated, for they do have consequences for the choices trade unions make in the face of the unfolding of the state's reform strategy.

2017

British Journal of Industrial Relations, 2008

Based on the findings of a nation wide survey of Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU) members, this article explores the state of internal democracy within the federation's affiliates, and degree of rank and file support for its alliance with the ruling ANC. It is concluded that, pessimistic accounts of the decay of internal union democracy and the alleged unpopularity of the ANC in particular and the tripartite Alliance in general seem misplaced.

2015

Based on the findings of a nation wide survey of Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU) members, this article explores the state of internal democracy within the federation’s affiliates, and degree of rank and file support for its alliance with the ruling ANC. It is concluded that, pessimistic accounts of the decay of internal union democracy and the alleged unpopularity of the ANC in particular and the tripartite Alliance in general seem misplaced. However, a panglossian view of continued and consistent union success is similarly unjustified; unions face the challenges of declining employment in the formal sector, and managing complex accommodations with business and government. Yet, the manner in which unions have coped with these challenges reflects a persistent organizational vibrancy which is encouraging for the future.

2000

The assignment examines the policy positions of the Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU) on restructuring and privatisation. The assignment's theoretical point of departure is found in the work of Levitsky and Way (1998). Levitsky and Way (1998) examines the alliance between a political party and its labour ally in the context of neo-liberal economic reform. The context is usually a political party that has come to power with the aid of a powerful trade union federation. The authors are interested in establishing if the party-union alliance would be sustained if the political party embarks on drastic economic reforms that have the potential to undermine trade union federations. The two cases that are investigated are Poland and Argentina, because in both these cases, a political party has been swept into power with the aid of a powerful trade union federation. Against the background of neo-liberal economic reforms, both trade union federations initially supported the economic reforms. In the medium and long term however, labour defected from the alliance in Poland, whereas the alliance was sustained in Argentina despite the enormous costs to workers.

African Affairs, 1992

This article traces a decade of intense debate within South Africa’s emerging non-racial trade union movement, culminating in COSATU’s formation and ascendancy in the 1980s–early 1990s. It maps the evolving divide—often labelled “workerist” versus “nationalist”—over the unions’ political role amid repression, township uprisings, and rapid change. The analysis begins with the controversy over registering unions under the Wiehahn reforms: advocates framed registration as a tactical concession to be exploited; opponents feared state incorporation. It then examines arguments over affiliation to the United Democratic Front—workerists favouring organisational independence and a class-based mandate, nationalists prioritising broad, multi-class unity against apartheid. Relations with the ANC/SACP alliance are explored through the Workers’ Charter campaign (as a left critique and supplement to the Freedom Charter) and the “two-hat” dispute over union officials simultaneously holding party posts. Using the protracted negotiations that produced COSATU, the article shows how bloc politics, differing strategic horizons, and external pressures shaped leadership alignments and policy choices. While the unions forged close ties with the alliance—evidenced by joint actions such as the mass anti-VAT strike—they also asserted autonomy, warning against unilateralism in negotiations with the state. By the early 1990s a pragmatic modus vivendi had emerged: acceptance of alliance cooperation alongside defence of union independence and shop-floor democracy. The article argues that these tensions are partly generational—rooted in distinct political lineages—and that preserving pluralism within labour has been central to the unions’ development into South Africa’s most powerful organised force.

This paper explores the causes of the crisis in South Africa’s trade union movement. It argues that the impasse is multi-layered, and can be attributed to both structural changes in the country’s political economy and organizational challenges. The labour movement should develop strategies and alternative political agency, which respond to these systemic issues. This requires a paradigm shift from the current preoccupation with political contestation devoid of deeper structural analysis

2010

For the completion of this work, I am indebted to many people, but there are those who have had a direct contribution and deserve a special mention. Firstly, I would like to express gratitude to my supervisor, Prof. Lucien Van der Walt, for your support, guidance, uncompromising leadership and robust exchange throughout the journey of my development in this work. I would like to thank the NRF Chair at the University of the Witwatersrand, for a supportive relationship, mostly to Dr. Noor Nieftegondien and Nathasha Vally for collaborative effort in data collection, but also for emotional support through this lonely journey. Special gratitude to the CEPPWAWU Head Office staff for a warm environment you created on my countless visits, for engaging me about my work and expressing confidence in it (especially to ntate Magane and Cedric). And to comrade James Pendlebury, thank you for engagingly editing this work.

Review of African Political Economy, 2004

This article provides an overview of the structure and organisation of the contemporary trade union movement in South Africa. It identifies seven broad trends in the labour market and their impact on the labour movement. It then examines the variety of initiatives by unions to ...