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19 August, 2009At the sub regional meeting that took place in Durban, South Africa in June 2008, the IMF Region and affiliates gave detailed reports on progress and development in each country. Discussion followed on what the way forward should be in IMF work in these countries. Willingness to work towards sustainable unionism is key to how IMF engages affiliates in the region. Thus it is also central to reporting on the progress of IMF affiliates in the region and discussions on future engagement between IMF and the affiliate.
At the sub regional meeting that took place in Durban, South Africa in June 2008, the IMF Region and affiliates gave detailed reports on progress and development in each country.
Discussion followed on what the way forward should be in IMF work in these countries. Willingness to work towards sustainable unionism is key to how IMF engages affiliates in the region. Thus it is also central to reporting on the progress of IMF affiliates in the region and discussions on future engagement between IMF and the affiliate.
Building Sustainable Unions
Building strong national unions is an important part of the work of IMF. For several affiliates, merging with other national unions to form a general union is the logical way forward to achieving a sustainable and viable union as the potential membership base in the sector is too small. Whilst there has been progress towards mergers in some countries this has been limited. The IMF cannot force these unions to merge but where countries want to move in this direction they will be supported. This agenda will not be pushed through by making financial resources available, for this support there first must be a genuine will on the part of the affiliate to merge.
There is more to sustainable unionism than mergers. The concept of sustainable unionism embodies a number of core principles and to learn more about this, read the article on page 2 titled 'What is Sustainable Unionism?'
Progress towards sustainable unionism in the sub region
The following is a summary of discussion on sustainable unionism for each country and the manner in which IMF will engage with the affiliates.
Mauritius: There has been no progress with AGWU and E&MWU in Mauritius as they do not have a working relationship with each other. Whilst there has been assistance in the past, there can be no way forward until the two affiliates work out their differences and show genuine interest in overcoming their internal issues.
Mozambique: Mozambique has a very fast growing economy and some work is necessary to compile data on the membership of SINTIME and its potential size. The union must provide information to assist in strategic engagement on labour issues. There have been some cooperative discussions between unions in the past but the onus is on SINTIME to build information and direction.
Angola: Efforts are underway to bring three unions into one sustainable national union but there is some internal strife that is stalling the process.
Namibia: The situation of the Namibian affiliate is changing under the new leadership and the regional office will meet with MANWU to discuss this the way forward but this will be done with the involvement of other GUFs especially BWI. The union must develop information that will be useful to establish the state of labour in the sector and as part of the manufacturing sector including details on representation. Other unions might also be approached for support in Namibia.
Zimbabwe: Given the political crisis in Zimbabwe, it is unclear what will happen with work in this country but should the situation improve, the IMF will attempt to work with the two unions towards rebuilding union structures.
South Africa: IMF will continue to strive towards unity and encourage the cooperation between NUMSA and MEWUSA which can be deepened through more forums and by general collaboration at industry and workplace levels.
Swaziland: There was little discussion on Swaziland, however we know that our affiliate SATU has had trouble with the national centre that has been threatened by the growth of the union and its ability to take on worker issues. SATU now reports that this relationship is improving, however it remains a concern for the region that in a small country of less than 100,000 formal sector workers, organised labour in Swaziland continues to be so divided especially given the political climate and the great socio economic challenges in the country. IMF project work continues with SATU who can also benefit from the support of NUMSA structures.
Zambia: Work in Zambia has been an inefficient use of resources as there is duplication of efforts of the IMF and BWI. If we are to continue to work in Zambia we need to consolidate efforts with BWI.
Tanzania: Our affiliate TUICO provides an excellent example of a sustainable general union. TUICO has grown from strength to strength and is self reliant and able to direct initiatives strategically. IMF will continue to support TUICO and to work with the union to assist others in the region. We have already started a relationship between TUICO and our Zambian affiliate NUBEGW.
EXCO Report
Affiliates were directed to read the three documents made available at this meeting, which are the IMF rules, the action programme and the paper on GUFs cooperation and merger discussions. At the next meeting affiliates must give input on these documents to be taken to EXCO. The IMF region will develop a document summarising issues and approaches in the region. Resolutions taken by the region will be added to this document. Affiliates should also familiarise themselves with the roles of the EXCO Committee and the Finance Committee, as the powers of these committees are often confused. There will be another meeting of affiliates to prepare for the next IMF Congress.
Precarious Work Campaign
Affiliates discussed the Precarious Work Campaign and affiliates were not prepared to give a report on actions that they have planned for the Day of Action on 7 October 2008 as they had not discussed this in their structures. It was agreed that they are to decide on what actions they will hold and affiliates undertook to inform IMF office by 1 July of their plan for this day and also to include planned actions for beyond 7 October 2008. As precarious work affects the African region in a considerably different way than in the North, the regional office will develop posters and media releases so that affiliates can access resources beyond the global media pack.
Regional Gender Project
Issues on the gender project were also resolved at the sub regional meeting. Outcomes of the gender meeting held on the two days prior to the sub regional meeting were presented and it was agreed that the project would focus delivery in two countries, Kenya and Mozambique with the support primarily from two countries, South Africa and Tanzania. The project will build the competence of the two support countries for general capacity transfer in the two delivery countries. The detailed project proposal will be submitted to SASK in November after IMF has had an opportunity to discuss the details of the project with the affiliates involved in the support and recipient countries.
Discussion followed on what the way forward should be in IMF work in these countries. Willingness to work towards sustainable unionism is key to how IMF engages affiliates in the region. Thus it is also central to reporting on the progress of IMF affiliates in the region and discussions on future engagement between IMF and the affiliate.
Building Sustainable Unions
Building strong national unions is an important part of the work of IMF. For several affiliates, merging with other national unions to form a general union is the logical way forward to achieving a sustainable and viable union as the potential membership base in the sector is too small. Whilst there has been progress towards mergers in some countries this has been limited. The IMF cannot force these unions to merge but where countries want to move in this direction they will be supported. This agenda will not be pushed through by making financial resources available, for this support there first must be a genuine will on the part of the affiliate to merge.
There is more to sustainable unionism than mergers. The concept of sustainable unionism embodies a number of core principles and to learn more about this, read the article on page 2 titled 'What is Sustainable Unionism?'
Progress towards sustainable unionism in the sub region
The following is a summary of discussion on sustainable unionism for each country and the manner in which IMF will engage with the affiliates.
Mauritius: There has been no progress with AGWU and E&MWU in Mauritius as they do not have a working relationship with each other. Whilst there has been assistance in the past, there can be no way forward until the two affiliates work out their differences and show genuine interest in overcoming their internal issues.
Mozambique: Mozambique has a very fast growing economy and some work is necessary to compile data on the membership of SINTIME and its potential size. The union must provide information to assist in strategic engagement on labour issues. There have been some cooperative discussions between unions in the past but the onus is on SINTIME to build information and direction.
Angola: Efforts are underway to bring three unions into one sustainable national union but there is some internal strife that is stalling the process.
Namibia: The situation of the Namibian affiliate is changing under the new leadership and the regional office will meet with MANWU to discuss this the way forward but this will be done with the involvement of other GUFs especially BWI. The union must develop information that will be useful to establish the state of labour in the sector and as part of the manufacturing sector including details on representation. Other unions might also be approached for support in Namibia.
Zimbabwe: Given the political crisis in Zimbabwe, it is unclear what will happen with work in this country but should the situation improve, the IMF will attempt to work with the two unions towards rebuilding union structures.
South Africa: IMF will continue to strive towards unity and encourage the cooperation between NUMSA and MEWUSA which can be deepened through more forums and by general collaboration at industry and workplace levels.
Swaziland: There was little discussion on Swaziland, however we know that our affiliate SATU has had trouble with the national centre that has been threatened by the growth of the union and its ability to take on worker issues. SATU now reports that this relationship is improving, however it remains a concern for the region that in a small country of less than 100,000 formal sector workers, organised labour in Swaziland continues to be so divided especially given the political climate and the great socio economic challenges in the country. IMF project work continues with SATU who can also benefit from the support of NUMSA structures.
Zambia: Work in Zambia has been an inefficient use of resources as there is duplication of efforts of the IMF and BWI. If we are to continue to work in Zambia we need to consolidate efforts with BWI.
Tanzania: Our affiliate TUICO provides an excellent example of a sustainable general union. TUICO has grown from strength to strength and is self reliant and able to direct initiatives strategically. IMF will continue to support TUICO and to work with the union to assist others in the region. We have already started a relationship between TUICO and our Zambian affiliate NUBEGW.
EXCO Report
Affiliates were directed to read the three documents made available at this meeting, which are the IMF rules, the action programme and the paper on GUFs cooperation and merger discussions. At the next meeting affiliates must give input on these documents to be taken to EXCO. The IMF region will develop a document summarising issues and approaches in the region. Resolutions taken by the region will be added to this document. Affiliates should also familiarise themselves with the roles of the EXCO Committee and the Finance Committee, as the powers of these committees are often confused. There will be another meeting of affiliates to prepare for the next IMF Congress.
Precarious Work Campaign
Affiliates discussed the Precarious Work Campaign and affiliates were not prepared to give a report on actions that they have planned for the Day of Action on 7 October 2008 as they had not discussed this in their structures. It was agreed that they are to decide on what actions they will hold and affiliates undertook to inform IMF office by 1 July of their plan for this day and also to include planned actions for beyond 7 October 2008. As precarious work affects the African region in a considerably different way than in the North, the regional office will develop posters and media releases so that affiliates can access resources beyond the global media pack.
Regional Gender Project
Issues on the gender project were also resolved at the sub regional meeting. Outcomes of the gender meeting held on the two days prior to the sub regional meeting were presented and it was agreed that the project would focus delivery in two countries, Kenya and Mozambique with the support primarily from two countries, South Africa and Tanzania. The project will build the competence of the two support countries for general capacity transfer in the two delivery countries. The detailed project proposal will be submitted to SASK in November after IMF has had an opportunity to discuss the details of the project with the affiliates involved in the support and recipient countries.