1 June, 2009
The three-day Congress of the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) in South Africa late last week provided stark reminder that tensions do exist on certain issues between trade unions and the ruling African National Congress (ANC) party. One such issue is the contentious matter of labour brokers.
ANC General Secretary Gwede Mantashe, himself a former NUM General Secretary and ICEM Executive member, argued on the first day that certain actions by labour unions might prove “counter-productive” with the ANC and the new Zuma government. But earlier, Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU) General Secretary Zwelinzima Vavi told delegates that in current wage talks throughout the country, it is wrong to think that workers should pick up a share of the economic burden.
Vavi called it “scandalous” that the first response to this economic crisis is for workers to lower their pay demands. “I say No to the CEOs who have watched their salaries grow by 150% each year and now say it is workers who must lower their demands,” Vavi said.
ICEM President Senzeni Zokwana
The NUM’s Triennial Congress was held at Gallagher Estate in Midrand, near Johannesburg. The union conducted debates, deliberations, and their elections under two banners, “Members First Today and Forever” and “Strengthen Solidarity, Deepen Class Consciousness.” Delegates attended from all 11 regions of the 320,000-member NUM to this 12th policy-shaping Congress.
One of the policies adopted is an outright ban on the use of labour brokers in South Africa. The NUM calls it the biggest threat to decent work in the country today. The NUM stands along side COSATU and other unions on the ban, while the ANC government has said it will introduce laws that more closely regulate contract work, subcontracting, and outsourcing.
NUM President Senzeni Zokwana, who also is ICEM President, gave a forceful and moving speech to open the Congress on 28 May by stating, “Let no one here believe we are going to settle for low wages. We will demand a living wage for mineworkers, construction workers, and energy workers.”
Zokwana called for an end to labour brokering, saying it is the creator of detrimental work conditions and the beginning of slave wages.
South Africa Labour Minister Membathisi Mdladlana also criticised labour brokers. “These companies send the labour of workers to the highest bidder and then they pay them the lowest possible wage,” he said. “It is an extreme form of free market labour capitalism. It allows workers to be traded for profit just as if they are meat or vegetables.”
ICEM General Secretary Manfred Warda
ICEM General Secretary Manfred Warda told delegates that the Global Union Federation stands with them in calling for the ban, calling Contract and Agency Labour “one of the worst plagues of globalisation.” Warda added that “the neoliberal model and the greed that it encouraged” has led the whole world to the edge of economic disaster. “We need a world of equality and regulated financial governance now more than at any previous time.”
Warda paid tribute to the NUM’s leading role inside Africa related to trade-union building, and he also mentioned the union’s exemplary work in HIV/AIDS prevention and in mine safety. Warda also used the NUM forum to issue a call for unity among the trade unions of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).
Zokwana was re-elected President of NUM, while ICEM Executive member Frans Baleni won re-election as General Secretary.