Liberated Metalworkers Union of South Africa [LIMUSA] National Executive Committee statement

23 April 2015

The Liberated Metalworkers Union of South Africa (LIMUSA) held its National Executive Committee (NEC) meeting from 11 to 12 April 2015 and scheduled a press conference at COSATU House in Johannesburg for Sunday, 19 April 2015.

Little did we know that we would compelled to postpone that press conference because of the death of our President Comrade Sifiso Maphumulo the night before.

Comrade Maphumulo died in a motor vehicle accident on his way to Johannesburg for the press conference.

This is huge loss to our union, to COSATU and to the working class but even more to the Maphumulo family, to whom we express our heartfelt condolences.

LIMUSA NEC

Our NEC was attended by delegates in good standing from various provinces, Eastern Cape, Western Cape, Free State, Kwa-Zulu Natal, Gauteng, Limpopo and Mpumalanga.

It was held under the theme: ‘Metalworkers reclaiming their rightful terrain and building unity in the broader working class struggle!!’

The Road we have travelled

The decision to establish LIMUSA came after a period of internal resistance and struggle against the reactionary direction taken by the National Union of Metalworkers (NUMSA) leadership which opportunistically imposed its will over that union through various form of despotic manipulation.

While calling for dialogue and democracy elsewhere that leadership ruthlessly stamped on dissent within the ranks of NUMSA.

Officials, shop-stewards and members who were stalwarts of working class struggle and internal democracy in the union were isolated, stifled, and in many cases faced trumped-up charges, suspensions and expulsions.

At the same time, individuals who were not the members, leaders or officials who were baseless organisationally gained control over the general direction of what NUMSA leaders said.

Meanwhile, focus in NUMSA has increasingly been towards setting up of a new political party using the resources of the workers and less on their working conditions. 

Democratic participation of members from below was overwhelmed and even replaced by this consultancy to which a lot of money was being paid.

No wonder many NUMSA members at garages, repair and engineering shops, auto manufacturing and the motor industry and elsewhere on the shop floor were never consulted and did not participate in developing the direction that was promoted in their name. 

In 2013 we highlighted the manipulation of democratic process before the NUMSA Special National Congress. Comrade Cedric Gina’s resignation as President exposed the fact that NUMSA was no longer worker-controlled.

After December 2013 Special Congress it was clear to us that our union had been driven to take a wrong turn. Despite this we further undertook to engage internally.

In May 2014 we held a national meeting in Ekurhuleni attended by five regions. In that meeting we decided to write a letter to the sitting General Secretary of NUMSA highlighting several political and organisational irregularities.

These interventions were met with propaganda, lies, suspensions and expulsions. Until to date we never received a response to several letters we wrote to NUMSA.

In July 2014 we found ourselves left with no other option than to build a new home for metalworkers.

We appealed to the expertise of various comrades to lead the process of building this new home.

With the support we have from many workers who joined the programme we submitted an application to the Department of Labour to register our union under the name Metal and Aliened Workers Union of South Africa (MAWUSA). The Department rejected the name, citing two reasons.

One was the name could be confused with that of another existing union.

The second was that exact name MAWUSA was already in use. But to date we do not know who are the leaders of that MAWUSA

Determined to forge ahead, we changed our name to Liberated Metalworkers Union of South Africa (LIMUSA), which was officially registered as a trade union on 28 November 2014.

This has brought several organisational challenges – however we can say with confidence that LIMUSA is now growing rapidly.

The state of metalworkers in South Africa

LIMUSA’s NEC meeting took place at the time when metalworkers are facing deepening exploitation. Metalworkers are faced with scourge of retrenchments, short-times, labour brokers, unsafe and unhealthy working conditions, unfair dismissals, racism, inferior wages and other sorts of exploitation.

The bargaining structures are collapsing such as in tyre industry while others suffer serious attack from the bosses like National Employers’ Association of South Africa (NEASA) which is refusing to implement collective agreements.

Workers need a union whose priority is their working conditions!

The industry bosses continue to maximise profits. The metal industry as a whole continues to be dominated by capitalists who are opposed to the transformation agenda. Workers in the motor sector are continuously faced with wage cuts.

Women and young workers are the most victimised. Fewer and fewer metalworkers have medical aid cover or can afford decent housing. 

This is all happening because of a leadership that has forsaken the workers in favour of creating a pseudo-political party in their name.

While failing to service to serve the interests of existing members they have been recruiting in other industries in order to provide a base for their pseudo-political party.

Workers need a union whose priority is their working conditions!

Metalworkers have been given no other choice than to build a new home for all metalworkers – and that is LIMUSA!

LIMUSA shall be the weapon in the hands of metalworkers which will fight against exploitation by the boss class!

LIMUSA will fight for better working conditions, better wages!

We shall under the leadership of COSATU take on the fight on issues such as e-tolling, labour brokers, evictions, the need to introduce a national minimum wage and build a national democratic economy through radical transformation.

In line with this vision, LIMUSA will under the leadership of COSATU fight for the National Development Plan (NDP) to be revisited, in particular the economic chapter as highlighted in the existing COSATU position on the NDP.

Current membership

LIMUSA’s membership as per the updated figures as at the NEC stands as follows.

By verified we mean that these are members that are paying subscriptions or date has been set for the starting of deductions.

By pending we mean that these members have signed LIMUSA membership forms but are not yet paying subscriptions due to various challenges faced by any new trade union, such as gate keeping by a majority union using threshold agreements in collaboration with the boss class in order to preserve the status quo and human resource capacity to conduct union introduction and organisational rights negotiations (e.g. Toyota SA; L&J Tooling).

What LIMUSA offers to metalworkers?

- Affordable subscriptions; membership fee is 1% of member’s salary or wage, to be capped at R150 a month;

- Effective representation on disciplinary inquiries and grievances from company level, CCMA and Labour Court;

- Bargaining for batter wages and conditions of employment;

- Funeral benefit to members and immediate family members;

- We are setting up a funeral cover for extended family members at an additional but reasonable cost.

Where do metalworkers find LIMUSA?

National Office: 34 Joe Slovo street, Durban , 031 301 1668

Satellite National Office: Suite 114A Royal Place; 85 Elloff Street Johannesburg

Limpopo: 131 Nelson Mandela Drive shop 23, Seshego Shopping Complex, Seshego

KwaZulu-Natal: 34 Joe Slovo (Field Street) street, Permanent Building; 5^th Floor; Durban

Eastern Cape: Peer 14 Govern Mbeki Avenue 2^nd floor Port Elizabeth

Western Cape: 10 Voortrekker Road Bellville

Gauteng: Suite 114A Royal Place; 85 Elloff Street Johannesburg

Northern Cape: looking for office space

Mpumalanga: lease still to be signed 

Free State:  Metalworkers can also go to all COSATU offices Local and Provincial to find out more about LIMUSA

LIMUSA is a militant campaigning workers’ union, independent and worker-controlled, and will take the bosses in the metal industry head-on. We are committed to following principles and values:

- Democracy and worker-control;

- Unity of workers from factory floor, national and international;

- Improvement in working conditions for all metalworkers;

- Accountability and transparency of leaders to members;

COSATU’s principle:

One Industry – One Union; One Country – One federation.

These are the principles, values and the DNA which will guide the life of our union from its founding Congress scheduled to take place from 27 to 28 June 2015.

In ensuring a successful road map towards Congress, we have Comrade Cedric Gina as Interim General Secretary and Comrade Mncedisi Phaphu as Interim Deputy General Secretary.

They will be working together with other members of the Interim leadership:

- 1^st Deputy Comrade Themba Mbatha from Gauteng , M/H Automation 

- 2^nd Deputy President Comrade Edwin Ratlapane from Limpopo , Sandvick 

- National Treasure Comrade Sello Rapau from Gauteng , Ford 

Unfortunately, we have lost our President Comrade Sifiso Maphumulo KZN, Toyota SA: May his soul rest in peace.

Building a united COSATU 

We welcome the decision of the CEC on the 30 – 31 March 2015 to accept LIMUSA as a new COSATU affiliate.

To us this is confirmation that COSATU is home for all workers who subscribe to its constitution and principles. To us this decision leaves us with a huge responsibility to build and strengthen a united, militant, campaigning and independent COSATU.

We are very clear that the reasons for the attempts to destroy COSATU are political and that the ultimate target is the ANC and the liberation Alliance which COSATU belongs to as an independent workers’ formation.

The plan is to capture trade unions and use their resources including workers’ subscriptions to fund an anti-working class political agenda and contest future elections with an immediate on the 2016 local government elections.

To defeat this agenda all COSATU affiliates must go back to basics by improving service to members:

· Build the COSATU organisers’ forum where affiliates share organising strategies and work together on recruitment and other campaigns;

- Develop solidarity across affiliates as opposed to the competition which destroys the unity of the workers (Contrary to what the NUMSA leadership sought to achieve by extending the scope of that union).

- Direct more budget allocation on capacity development of shop-stewards and members.

- Develop bargaining strategies to improve working conditions of members who must not be viewed as passive recipients of unions but as active agents of change. 

- Develop improved union financial controls with COSATU performing an oversight role to ensure that worker finances are correctly managed.

- Improve the functioning of liberation Alliance at all levels to advance the interest of workers.

May Day

As a disciplined affiliate of COSATU we shall be fully participating in the COSATU-led May Day activities. We are calling on our members and the workers in general to attend the May Day celebrations in their numbers.

Brutal Killing of Chris Nkosi 

We have expressed our sadness in the brutal killing of SATAWU Gauteng Provincial Secretary Comrade Chris Nkosi and reiterate our condemnation of this criminal activity in strongest terms.

We have also condemned the bombing of the home of SATAWU President Comrade June Dube. 

We calling on workers to close ranks and reject all form of violence.

Xenophobia

We are ashamed by attacks on our African brothers and sisters and our other brothers and sisters from Asia. We condemn these activities and call on our people to desist from these brutal actions against humanity.

Public Sector Wage Negotiations

LIMUSA salutes the struggle of public sector workers who are marching today in support of their legitimate demands against government as the employer. We call on government to return to the negotiations with a concrete offer that is intended to resolve the dispute.

Funeral Arrangements of our Presidents

We will be laying Comrade Sifiso Maphumulo to his final place of rest this weekend on 25 April 2015.

The funeral service will start at the home of Maphumulo in UMbumbulu and move to Coastal FET College, Umbumbulu campus in KwaMakhutha Township.

This afternoon there will be a memorial service at James Bolton Hall. We are thankful for the messages of condolences that we have received from numerous COSATU affiliates and the SACP.

We have also received a message of condolences from the registrar of trade unions at Department of Labour.

This messages and those we have received through other forms of communications have really comforted us.

In his memory we commit ourselves to building a LIMUSA that is militant and a strong shield for metalworkers 

Thank you

Kind regards

Statement issued by Mawonga Madolo, National Spokesperson, Liberated Metalworkers Union of South Africa (LIMUSA), April 23 2015