Red Alert: The travesty of Bargaining in Disunity

This input holds that it is always important to support and welcome workers when they are ready to fight for their demands in improving their living and working conditions. The right to strike is one of the most powerful weapons the workers have at their disposal. But without a careful thought process it can also be a weapon that can be used against workers such that the losses outweigh the gains .The platinum strike was the typical theatre of the exercise of the right to strike and win on the mining oligarchy's terms.

It cannot be disputed that mobilising workers in the manner the platinum belt strike demonstrated was a good display of unity which is important. Their state of readiness was important in many ways, a positive outcome or reflection which also boosted psychological preparation and galvanised the morale to engage in the battle for a living wage. This was a will to fight one of the most organised and highly resourced enemies of the workers, the mining oligarchy with both national and international tentacles.

Unity of the workers imperative

Overall the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) correctly supported the platinum workers when they undertook the battle for a living wage which is what NUM stands for, and Cosatu upholds. But such a battle can never be undertaken and decisively won by a divided workforce. Unfortunately a commitment to divide workers was a precursor to the battle for a living wage in the platinum sector.

Timing the strike

At the time workers in the platinum belt were led to strike action the commodities were not doing well in platinum sector .The financial health of the mines was not in a healthy state. Against this background the strike effectively bailed out the employers in reducing overheads for a period of five months. By implication the strike was an un-proclaimed advantage to the employers.

The timing of the strike in the platinum was poor, hence the employers endured five months of strike action but still settled in their own terms. For example no worker received R12 500 as planned by AMCU but the arrangement is on the terms of the employer over a period of time determined by the employer, 3 years - NOT instantly, contrary to workers' demand.

Divide and rule

It is a historical tactic of the employer to divide and rule. But in the instance of the platinum strike the strikers unwittingly executed the divide and rule tactic by firstly attacking everything that related to the NUM - a perfect situation that emboldened the employers.

So from this angle a degree of defeat was already spelt out on the striking union by its sheer will to unleash a spectre of terror on the very same battalions it needed to undertake a long war against the employer. This was a plus for the employer and, to guess, when they plastered the coalition the word was 'game on'.

Financial costs

Analysts speculate that striking workers sacrificed R42 501 per worker to gain only R932 per month. It is estimated it will take 126 months for the workers who were on strike to be where they were before the strike. Direct loss in workers' income is estimated at R10.7 billion.

A number of properties have been destroyed belonging to workers such as houses, car repossessions, and furniture taken away for default, to mention but a few. Some workers were displaced from their homes for the entirety of the strike in fear of being killed which affected family life with local economic activity impacted negatively, all this while those who own, control (manage) and monopolise the proceeds of the mines bask in comfort.

Restructuring and retrenchments

It is inevitable that companies will resort to restructuring and this means retrenchments. The first victims of this strategy will be the very workers who were on strike and not necessarily the owners of the mines and their managers. Already the platinum sector has shed 16 000 jobs across the three Platinum mines that faced strikes.

The second victims could be the migrant workers who could be dealt with on the basis of an over-stay which is not consistent with the Immigration Act (No. 13 of 2002, Sec 50(1)) as amended.

Already the NUM offices have experienced visits from workers seeking the union's assistance to renew their contract, a clear oversight on the battle plan of those who planned the strike. The NUM is helping them because its agenda in uniting workers and contributing to the overall unity of the working class is bigger than the recent strike.

Similarly, the NUM will confront corporate restructuring and fight against retrenchments regardless of the character and configuration of the conditions facing the democratic right to organise and the freedom of association. As regards these conditions, there is just no alternative but to work to defeat intimidation, violence and bring to an end the murder of workers, all used as an organising strategy of the barbaric and backward elements and forces that have been committing these atrocities in the area.

Discovery to bye-pass unions

It is a dangerous discovery for employers to communicate with workers without unions. This phenomenon could create difficulties for unions as the true representatives of the workers in a resolving disputes in the future.

Furthermore, there is now talk in government circles of the need to curb long strikes by legislation, a move which will be paranoid and definitely play into the conservative elements that view the exercise of workers' right to strike as both anarchy and a threat to the entire economy. This on its own could lead to the right to strike being limited due to a populist venture that failed to appreciate the dynamics of the mining economy. However, the NUM will not fold its arms and watch. The union will defend the right of workers to strike.

Meanwhile, the union that led the long platinum strike rejected the establishment of the bargaining council which would unite workers to bargain better, but the employers themselves formed a coalition that defended their interest not just against the yellow union but the workers as a whole. Hence some of the defeats the union has suffered which is unfortunate because these has a negative impact of the workers.

When an army of workers has been drained by a long war it is difficult for any leader to take the very same battalions for a new fight. The right to strike may be seriously under threat. It remains trite law of the art of collective bargaining that: ‘United we stand divided we beg'. There could have been best outcomes had there been unity of all forces.

Cde Frans Baleni in NUM General Secretary

This article first appeared in the SACP's online journal. Umsebenzi Online.

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