Namibian workers organise

In 1987, long before Namibian independence was even on the agenda, the Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU) and the National Union of Namibian Workers (NUNW) decided to produce a joint book on the Namibian trade union movement. At that stage the Namibian trade unions had just begun to assert themselves. The idea of the book was to provide information useful for both Namibian and South African workers on the history of the working class struggle in Namibia. It was hoped that this would help to build a powerful working class solidarity between South African and Namibian workers. The International Labour Research and Information Group (ILRIG) - a research and educational service organisation specialising in working class struggles internationally — was commissioned by COSATU and NUNW to research, write and produce the book. Work on the book started in 1988. Between then and May 1989, two ILRIG workers visited Namibia a number of times - once with comrades from COSATU - and gathered a vast amount of information on the struggle in Namibia. Information came from workers, from trade unionists, from SWAPO, from documents and from observation. At all times in the process of writing the book, material was referred back to COSATU and NUNW for discussion and approval. The final chapter on solidarity was done at the end of August 1989, when a delegation of COSATU leaders visited Namibia to discuss setting up a permanent Working Committee with the NUNW. The book is coming at a time when Namibia is about to achieve her independence from South African colonial occupation under UN Resolution 435. The Namibian workers’ struggle for a living wage, for the right to strike, for decent houses, for jobs for all and against privatisation will not end with independence. The need for strengthening and extending trade union organisation in Namibia will not end with independence. The necessity for building solidarity between the Namibian and South African working class will not end with independence

A liberal journal for a conservative estimate

AIDS starts with a virus. Like all viruses, it’s a parasite fragile and impotent. It cannot reproduce except within human cells, It’s tiny. Over 500,000,000 HIV viruses could fit the dot on top of this i. In the wrong environment HIV dies. In the right environment, it dominates. AIDS is dominating South Africa with all ready 2.4 million people infected, with estimates of 20% of the working population being infected within four years. South Africa has willingly opened itself to domination. This time, not colonial political oppression or the cruelty of racial apartheid, but domination by a virus all of us saw coming. The Ministry of Health welcomed the virus by failing to impart a practical and realistic National AIDS strategy. Instead, entertaining us with a R14.3 million play called Sarafina 2 and a discredited new cure for AIDS Virodene

Recruiters Guidelines

The purpose of this booklet is to touch in number of areas, which are important at this point for the recruitment campaign of the federation. It is not meant even by implication to provide details of how to handle the campaign what it does is to highlight issues and areas that we must think in the preparation for this campaign. More importantly is the fact that COSATU remains the biggest federation in South Africa and fastest growing international. Beside a loss of membership from + 2 million to + 1.8 million members. The decrease in membership is mostly because of retrenchments. The well known fact is that only about 40% of the workforce that is unionized. The aim of the recruitment drive is to access this 60% that is not unionized. The mistake must not be committed to think that the 40%, which is unionized, belong to COSATU. There are two other federations plus number of non-affiliated unions. Our commitment to One Country One Federation does not stop us to recruit from other unions as long as we remain under different bodies. This October campaign coincides with Red October campaign of the SACP and Health and Safety month of the federation this must be seen as strength than lack of co-ordination. One area that is link to recruitment is the servicing of membership. It is useless to recruit and fail to service membership because every campaign that we will take around recruitment we may find ourselves had to fight with disgruntled members and obviously it will be difficult to attract new members. This must say to us that members come first

Cosatu Living Wage Conference towards a socio-economic programme

There is now wide agreement that Cosatu should formulate a socio-economic programme to co-ordinate its present campaigns and collective bargaining and to influence the structure of the future economy. Our success in a Living Wage Campaign depends on the restructuring of the economy so that it can meet the needs and aspirations of the majority of our people

Draft COSATU Workers Charter prepared for discussion in COSATU, January 1992

In drafting this document we were guided by the following conception of the worker's charter: that it would be a document aimed for the transition - a dynamic organisational and fighting tool. We also envisaged that it could be changed through the course of struggle. This draft needs to be discussed by affiliates in preparation for the March CEC. This CEC should amend and/or endorse as a draft for COSATU to present to the Worker's Summit in May

COSATU Executive committee press statement - 20 AUGUST 1998

The Executive Committee met in its normal session on 18 - 19 August 1998. It received reports on a range of socio-economic and political issues. As is always the case, discussions were conducted in a true tradition of the federation - comradeship, frankness, robust and constructive. A number of decisions were taken by the meeting, some of which are contained in this statement. The meeting received a report on meetings held with Old Mutual and Sanlam respectively. The meeting reaffirmed COSATU’s opposition to demutualisation on political and economic grounds and regretted the fact that the portfolio committee had gone ahead to finalise the bills dealing with demutualisation inspite of being informed about discussions currently taking place with the two mutual companies. We remain of the view that it would help the parliamentary process had this process been allowed to proceed to its final conclusion

COSATU press statement on new competition legislation

COSATU rejects with contempt business complaints about the new competition legislation. Business complains that the legislation will too easily trigger the breaking up of large business entities, which abuse their dominance. Business's rejection of a role for ministerial discretion in the regulation of mergers, reveal both an unrepentant arrogance about South Africa's past and a marked misunderstanding of the challenges which our economy faces in the present and future. Throughout the negotiations at NEDLAC, COSATU has argued in line with the commitment made in the Reconstruction and Development Programme that government needs to introduce "strict anti-trust legislation". Competition policy should be informed by the need to break up apartheid era monopolies and concentrations, built up during a time of systematic exclusion and race privilege. COSATU's view is that given this background one of the explicit objectives of the legislation should be the regulation and erosion of inherited corporate power. COSATU supports the fact that the legislation provides for the forced breaking up of conglomerates that abuse their dominant position, for example through charging excessive prices or through limiting output, production or technological development. In fact, we have proposed in the NEDLAC process that these provisions should be strengthened so that in the event of an abuse of dominance forced divestiture should apply unless it is a firm's first offence and there is another appropriate remedy provided for in the Act. Another key issue for COSATU is that, given South Africa's unemployment crisis and as we approach the Presidential Job Summit, it would be important for policy consistency that the proposed competition legislation should include mechanisms to minimise and avoid job losses. In the regulation of mergers by the competition authorities and in the practice of the Minister's discretion in the public interest review the minimisation and avoidance of job loss must be prioritised