This week’s observance of Workers’ Day, an annual ritual on our calendar, again shone the spotlight on the role and position of organised labour in a changed, and rapidly changing, South Africa.
Our trade unions have largely carried on the tradition of militancy and anti-capitalist rhetoric that helped defeat apartheid — but which, it can be argued, hardly serves the country, or workers, in an era of supposed reconstruction and a quest for economic growth.
Even before the Soweto upheaval of 1976, trade unions in 1973 in Durban had flexed their muscle, leaving no doubt the organised working class would play a vanguard role in overcoming minority rule. And it did.
Much has changed since then, in the country and the workplace, but our trade unions appear stuck in the past and its forms of struggle and rhetoric, essentially revelling in past glories as union bosses have, in many cases, gone on to amass fabulous wealth in a cosy relationship with their ANC comrades in government.
The federation should ask itself to what extent its own policies have contributed to low growth, productivity and innovation — and what share of the responsibility it must take for the woeful state of public services in South Africa
Workers’ representatives this week marked the May 1 Workers’ Day with speeches and rallies designed to energise the working class in what the leadership still insists is a battle against capitalism and exploitation. To liken a job in South Africa to “slavery” speaks volumes about a mindset stuck in the past.
Though the ANC, Cosatu and the SACP have been in an alliance since before 1994, Cosatu’s president Zingiswa Losi warned once again of the threat posed to democracy by political leaders engaged in corrupt practices. “We are very clear as Cosatu that we did not wage a struggle for us to see the democratic state become the playground for amasela [thieves],” Losi said.
Yet while Cosatu rages against corruption and tenderpreneurs, union bosses are aware the movement relies heavily on the government and ANC for its survival. Increasingly, Cosatu speaks for the powerful public-sector unions, such as the health workers, teachers, public servants and police. As such, the federation should ask itself to what extent its own policies have contributed to low growth, productivity and innovation — and what share of the responsibility it must take for the woeful state of public services in South Africa.
Meanwhile, other attempts have been made to reposition trade unions as a bona fide political force, with the formation of the SA Federation of Trade Unions in 2017. Its political ambitions have remained stillborn, in spite of having the country's biggest union, the National Union of Metalworkers of SA, in its ranks. The need for a middle road is self-evident.
Cosatu has had a history of rejecting the so-called German model of co-operative trade unions, which would give workers places on company boards and a real say in decisions on investment and working conditions. Instead, Cosatu has leveraged its muscle in the ANC-led tripartite alliance while ignoring the changes taking place all around.
The fourth industrial revolution, artificial intelligence and automation will revolutionise workplaces in years ahead. To best cater for the changes, Cosatu should rethink its traditional stance and be more amenable, in the interests of its members and the country, to forging a more co-operative relationship with capital. This, of course, would require reciprocation from employers.
Cosatu may pride itself on its role in the past but to be as effective now and in the future, it will have to adapt its strategies and its philosophy.
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