Workplace democratisation: Shopfloor voices and visions for emancipation

African Studies Seminar series. Paper presented 21 April, 199

Democratising the workplace: worker perspectives on industrial democracy.

Paper presented at the Wits History Workshop: Democracy, Popular Precedents, Practice and Culture, 13-15 July, 1994.The central theme of the transition under way in South Africa is democralisation of all spheres of life. One such sphere is the workplace where millions of workers spend most of their adult lives working for a living. For many years workers and their trade unions have been in the forefront of struggles for better wages and working conditions at the workplace. In many cases these struggles have also been about control at the workplace, or what Goodrich has termed "the demand not to be controlled disagreeably". This paper draws on interviews with workers and shop stewards at two factories in the Transvaal and seeks to establish the extent to which their notion of industrial democracy and worker participation constitutes what Goodrich has called "ii;.: demand to take a hand in controlling". What emerges is not a homogenous understanding of workplace democracy, but a range of views and opinions. The paper also analyses a number of powerful factors which influence or shape the views of workers on the subject of industrial democracy. The conclusion of this discussion is that democracy is part of the consciousness of unionised workers as it is the guiding principle in all union structures. It is therefore inevitable that the demand for democracy at the workplace will become part of organised workers' notion of justice and fairness on the shop floor

Work reorganisation and technological change: limits of trade union strategy and action at ArcelorMittal, Vanderbijlpark

The black South African trade unions were known globally for challenging apartheid in the workplace and low wages. In fact, they played a significant role in the broad liberation movement which ushered in democracy in 1994. However, little is known about the unions’ ability to respond to production issues such as technological changes at the ‘point of production’. Using a case study of the Vanderbijlpark Plant currently owned by the global steel corporation ArcelorMittal International, this article shows that the National Union of Metal Workers of South Africa (NUMSA) - the biggest trade union in South Africa - adopted a bargaining strategy which consistently ignored production issues at the plant while focusing on wages and working conditions. This article suggests that this unidimensional strategy meant that building the union’s capacity was neglected, reducing its ability to respond proactively to technological innovation and work reorganisation. While it does not present union capacity as a panacea, the article presents international examples that indicate that unions with more developed research and education capabilities were able to save some jobs by engaging union members and proposing alternatives.Keywords: education, research, technology, union capacity, union strateg

Trade unions and democracy in South Africa: union organisational challenges and solidarities in a time of transformation

Based on a nationwide survey, this article focuses on the perceptions of Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU) members on two of the central issues that have dominated debates on the South African labour movement: the advisability of COSATU's Alliance with the African National Congress (ANC) and the extent of internal union democracy. The survey revealed that the ANC-Alliance continues to enjoy mass support, while internal democracy remains robust. At the same time, the federation faces the challenges of coping with — and contesting — neoliberal reforms, retaining and re-energizing rank and file in the post-apartheid era, and in reaching out to potential members in the informal sector and other areas of insecure work

Enclave Rustenburg : platinum mining and the post-apartheid social order

In the absence of a levelling out of income and resources, as well as arbitrary violence in everyday life, the post-apartheid social order is characterised by the formation of various enclaves. In the platinum mining town of Rustenburg, these enclaves are constructed on the foundations of the apartheid categories ‘suburb’, ‘compound’, ‘township’ and ‘homeland’. Such enclaves include security villages, converted compounds with access control, and informal settlements with distinctive gender, linguistic and class formations. The article draws on David Harvey’s formulation of absolute, relative and relational space and the case of Rustenburg to elaborate the concept of enclave further.[L’enclave Rustenburg : la mine de platine et l’ordre social post-apartheid.] En l’absence d’un nivellement des revenus et ressources, en plus d’une violence arbitraire dans la vie de tous les jours, l’ordre social post-apartheid est caracte´rise´ par la formation de diffe´rentes enclaves. Dans la ville des mines de platine de Rustenburg, ces enclaves sont construites sur les fondations des cate´gories de l’apartheid « suburb » (ou banlieue), « compound » (habitations dans un enclos), « township » (bidonville) et « homeland » (bantoustans ou foyers nationaux). Ces enclaves comprennent des villages se´curise´s, des compounds convertis avec un controˆle d’acce`s, et des implantations informelles avec des formations distinctives de genre, de langue et de classe. L’article se base sur la formulation de David Harvey de l’espace absolu, relatif et relationnel et sur le cas de Rustenburg pour de´tailler davantage le concept de l’enclave.http://tandfonline.com/loi/crea202016-12-31hb2016Sociolog

Trade unions and democracy in South Africa: Union organizational challenges and solidarities in a time of transformation

Based on a nationwide survey, this article focuses on the perceptions of COSATU members on two of the central issues that have dominated debates on the South African labour movement: the advisability of COSATU’s Alliance with the ANC and the extent of internal union democracy. The survey revealed that the ANC-Alliance continues to enjoy mass support, whilst internal democracy remains robust. At the same time, the federation faces the challenges of coping with – and contesting - neo-liberal reforms, retaining and reenergizing rank and file in the post-apartheid era, and in reaching out to potential members in the informal sector and other areas of insecure work

Fostering family resilience: A community participatory action research perspective

Theoretically, increasing family resilience, may contribute to an increase the resilience of communities. However families in South Africa experience challenges to their resilience, often owing to a variety of historic, socio-economic, and political factors. Research and intervention planning that attempts to ameliorate the effects these factors, especially upon families who live within disenfranchised communities, should begin with a consideration of the relationships between researcher and community stakeholders. The aim of this paper is to discuss lessons learned during the process of intervention development in which the whole community (should they choose to) can participate. The Family Resilience Strengthening Programme is an intervention that was developed with the aim of strengthening family resilience processes using a participatory action research approach (PAR). Participants of this project were from a small, rural community from the West Coast of South Africa. We argue that PAR can be used to foster family resilience and, in so doing, can mobilise communities and their resources to increase community resilience. Key lessons learned during this project is discussed and addresses aspects important in community engagement such as the quality of communication and a unifying of different stakeholder community groups. Moreover, we encourage researchers and practitioners engage with the value that communities contribute to research and intervention planning, and the need to maintain, and further develop, those relationships both throughout and after the research proces

Considerations for preparing a randomized population health intervention trial: lessons from a South African–Canadian partnership to improve the health of health workers

Background: Community-based cluster-randomized controlled trials (RCTs) are increasingly being conducted to address pressing global health concerns. Preparations for clinical trials are well-described, as are the steps for multi-component health service trials. However, guidance is lacking for addressing the ethical and logistic challenges in (cluster) RCTs of population health interventions in low- and middle-income countries. Objective: We aimed to identify the factors that population health researchers must explicitly consider when planning RCTs within North–South partnerships. Design: We reviewed our experiences and identified key ethical and logistic issues encountered during the pre-trial phase of a recently implemented RCT. This trial aimed to improve tuberculosis (TB) and Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) prevention and care for health workers by enhancing workplace assessment capability, addressing concerns about confidentiality and stigma, and providing onsite counseling, testing, and treatment. An iterative framework was used to synthesize this analysis with lessons taken from other studies. Results: The checklist of critical factors was grouped into eight categories: 1) Building trust and shared ownership; 2) Conducting feasibility studies throughout the process; 3) Building capacity; 4) Creating an appropriate information system; 5) Conducting pilot studies; 6) Securing stakeholder support, with a view to scale-up; 7) Continuously refining methodological rigor; and 8) Explicitly addressing all ethical issues both at the start and continuously as they arise. Conclusion: Researchers should allow for the significant investment of time and resources required for successful implementation of population health RCTs within North–South collaborations, recognize the iterative nature of the process, and be prepared to revise protocols as challenges emerge

The Struggle for Legitimacy: South Africa’s Divided Labour Movement and International Labour Organisations, 1919–2019

Who could be considered a legitimate representative of South Africa’s working class, and even who constituted this class, was bitterly contested during the twentieth century. This chapter examines the struggles for international recognition by the rival constituents of South Africa’s labour movement, which was sharply divided along racial and ideological lines. Initially, the International Labour Organization and other similar bodies formed links with the white-dominated labour movement, which regarded itself as the legitimate representative of all workers in South Africa. This position was successfully contested by emerging black African trade unions who themselves, in the face of fierce repression, competed for financial support made available by various sections of the international labour movement