PRESS STATEMENT ON THE DECISIONS TAKEN AT THE NUMSA NATIONAL EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE (NEC) HELD ON 25-27 JUNE 2014 IN THE PARKTONIAN HOTEL, BRAAMFONTEIN - JOHANNESBURG
29th June 2014
Johannesburg, South Africa
The Numsa National Executive Committee (NEC) met between 25th - 27th June 2014 and dealt with the all the areas of its work which included a political analysis, an organizational assessment and dealt with the finance and administration report. This NEC takes place after the 5 day Numsa Central Committee Meeting held in May.
Both meetings have had to deal with the historic decisions made by the December 2013 Special National Congress. We are confident that we are on track in defending and implementing the decisions of the SNC both in relation to the servicing of members and the fight against neo-liberal policies. The NEC proudly noted that we are the biggest industrial union in South Africa with more than 348 000 members.
Political and Socio-economic Analysis
The General Context
The Numsa Special National Congress, Central Committee and the National Executive Committee has noted that the South African economy has suffered massive de-industrialization over the last 5 years with 271 000 jobs lost in the manufacturing sector between 2009 and 2012 alone. Unemployment has grown and continues to grow. In May 2008 there were 5.1 million unemployed people in South Africa. Today there are more than 7 million.
The global signs are weak:
The World Bank cut its global growth forecast to 2.8% for 2014 from its original forecast of 3.2% growth
The Bank reduced its forecast for developing countries from 5.3% to 4.8%. It further argues that the very high growth rates from developing economies such as China will not continue
The South African economy is weaker:
In the first quarter of 2014 the South African economy contracted by 0.6%
Inflation has risen from 5.8% in January to 6.1% in May
Manufacturing Production is down:
By April 2014 manufacturing production decreased by 1.5%
The NEC remains concerned about the pace at which the state is supporting initiatives in manufacturing and encouraging increased industrialization. We return to this point later as our main concern is that both the state and capital expect the working class to carry the burden of poverty, inequality and unemployment. It's the working class that is expected to accept a race to the bottom in relation to its working conditions and a living wage.
Socio economic program:
The NEC reaffirmed its decisions with regards to some key socio-economic struggles in terms of Section 77 action:
a. Preservation of pension funds: the proposed amendment to legislation without proper consultation in terms of the impact on the working class is a huge problem for our members and we are prioritizing this as a key area of struggle. We have a mandate to serve a s77 application with the key demand that government not proceed until all parties have clarified the implications of such legislation
b. Mineral and Petroleum Resources Development Amendment Bill: there is pressure from big capital for the President to sign off the bill without it having been agreed to by all parties at NEDLAC. We remain committed, working with other civil society organizations to table the matter in the form of S77 notice at NEDLAC
c. Employment Tax Incentive Act: Opposition to the ETIA remains at the top of our agenda as a union. Our initial research has shown that unemployment amongst workers in the relevant age groups has continued to rise and employment continues to fall. We remain committed to meeting the Minister of Finance in this regard.
d. Labour Relations Amendment Bill: here we remain resistant to any attempts to reintroduce proposals on how to restrict strikes through interdicts, compulsory ballots or enforced arbitration. We will resist all attempts to restrict collective bargaining processes and workers' rights to withdraw their labour when the collective bargaining processes fail.
e. E-tolling: The Numsa NEC agreed that we must fight the proposed enforcement to e-toll registration and develop a United Front campaign in this regard. The current Sanral and Metro Police enforcement of e-tolls on Johannesburg highways is rejected and shall not make us softening our resolve to fight e-tolls. We shall not pay for the privatization of public roads/
Devastating Results of Neo-liberalism
The NEC noted as it did in the May 2014 Numsa CC that the context of working class communities has not changed in that we see:
Widespread strikes, service delivery protests and increased levels of violence against women and children
Hard line responses by the state and capital to industrial action. We starting to see evidence of collusion between the state, capital and even some unions against workers and their legitimate demands
The Platinum Strike
By the time the NEC met the platinum strike had taken place for over 22 weeks and had just been settled. Our consistent analysis remains that the platinum companies used their massive stockpiles of platinum to try and starve workers back to work. This strike represented a fundamental class battle between the South African working class and the global bourgeoisie. It was a strike against the apartheid structure of the mining industry which has and still is based on cheap black migrant labour.
We have noted with concern that the ANC Secretary General has publicly argued that this strike is the work of foreign whites and was a political strike. In the State of the Nation Address the President of the country finally recognizes the plight of the mine workers and wants an inter-ministerial task team to deal with the infrastructure problems of mining towns. The problem for both the state and the ruling party is the conflict of interest for many of its key leaders as they have large interests and shares in the mining sector.
The NEC noted the impact the 5 month strike had on women and children on the mines who suffered and were reduced into poverty. Numsa commended the Gift of the Givers who provided food parcels to the destitute families of striking mineworkers. In this regard the NEC noted that political parties such as the ANC would have canvassed within these same communities to vote for them but could offer nothing to act in their interest.
The NEC further noted the labour Court decision to deny AMCU a strike in the Gold sector given the early agreement with unions which has serious implications for organized labour and continues to demonstrate how the courts are instruments of big capital
The NEC considered the ANC government's intervention as not far reaching and genuine when in particular it considered the utterances of the ANC SG related to white foreign interest which targets left-wing activism instead of speaking in clear political and ideological terms against the exploitation of our mineral wealth by foreigners for super profits. In this regard we must consistently expose the collusion of government and mining capital.
The NEC celebrates the outcome of the Platinum strike agreement as a clear demonstration that the unity and cohesion of workers can push back the frontiers of exploitation.
We must convene a United Front Mining Summit to interrogate the mining industry problems and develop a clear program of action to demand the redistribution of the country's mineral wealth and to demand the most thoroughgoing betterment of the mineworkers and mine community conditions to ensure a sustainable livelihood. The strategy as per the previous NEC resolution and participants of such a summit must be clear. In this regard the NOB's are mandated to determine the above in accordance with Numsa's objectives and form and content to give this summit.
Cosatu:
The NEC noted that Numsa had complied with all the provisions of the decisions of the COSATU CEC but despite this our union remains under attack from all those who disagree with the resolutions of our SNC. The NEC believes that workers in the country are beginning to lose all hope in the continued existence and activism of Cosatu as a shield and spear of the working class. This for us remains the basis of the crises in COSATU.
The National Office Bearers were asked by the NEC to carry forward the mandate of the previous Numsa constitutional meetings which is to:
Meet with the COSATU office bearers
Meet jointly with the striking workers of Transnet, COSATU & SATAWU
Write to COSATU to clarify the issue of poaching members of other unions
Meet with the ANC task team and present the Numsa view on the basis of the crises in COSATU
The NEC noted that despite its skepticism but disciplined approach to the resolutions of the COSATU CEC on the "cease-fire of hostilities", the union continues to be attacked
The NEC noted that despite the wide ranging accusations and attacks made against Numsa in a number of forums, with the most recent example being in the NEHAWU Special National Congress, by all the alliance leaders, notably the very disparaging comments by the Cosatu President, the ANC task team has never uttered a word of condemnation. Furthermore the endeavors to form a splinter union from Numsa has never received so much as a condemnation from the Cosatu NOB's or the ANC task team
Attacks by SATAWU
Furthermore the NEC resolved that as Numsa we must sue Satawu for suggesting that Numsa seeks to overthrow the government.
The Satawu NEC statement attempts to expose Numsa as an organization that is planning a coupe against the government and therefore the matter must be taken to the law enforcement authorities so that Satawu be required to present evidence in court with respect to their claims that Numsa is targeting ports for recruitment in order to bring in illegal goods and weapons.
The Numsa NEC further argued that SATAWU must be asked legally to provide evidence to substantiate their claim that in Transnet in the Eastern Cape they found a Numsa car load of weapons. We will leave no stone unturned to expose the lies and fantasies of all those who cannot service their members and then blame and attack those defending genuine demands and struggles of workers.
We have asked COSATU to have a more balanced discussion on the issue of poaching and overlap of scope. We will await this discussion as well as a joint meeting of SATAWU, COSATU and Numsa with the workers of Transnet. We are reminded of Amilcar Cabral who said tell "Tell no lies and claim no easy victories". We will ensure that legally that SATAWU tells the truth.
The Numsa NEC agreed that we must publicly demand that the Transnet CEO withdraw the statement he made that Numsa is taking a political posture in the Transnet strike when he knows very well that the workers have genuine demands.
The Benoni Project:
The NEC noted that former Numsa leaders, former staff and former shopstewards continue in their attempts to divide and liquidate Numsa by contacting and meeting current staff, members and shopstewards. We further noted their attempts at spreading defamatory and misleading information about the union by sending out SMS's to our members in the different plants.
The NEC warned that whereas we are not shaken by the work of the Benoni Project, we must not take for granted the intentions to liquidate Numsa. We are aware that this is a well-funded project of aggrieved bitter people who will stop at nothing to fight back at the resolutions taken the Numsa SNC.
With respect to the so-called open letter being circulated with its wild and unsubstantiated claims, the NEC resolved that we condemn the open letter and further resolved that we must not be dictated to by outside forces on what to discuss and what not to discuss in the Numsa constitutional structures.
The Numsa NEC confirmed the Union's principled and political stance against tribalism and ethnicity in Numsa and therefore the attempts in the letter to raise sexist and regional issues show political and ideological bankruptcy such that it does not follow the non-racial teachings of Chief Albert Luthuli.
The NEC further reaffirmed the tradition of Numsa which sees education, training and constant communication to members and shopstewards as the best form of attack against the attempts by our detractors to create confusion in our organization.
United Front:
The NEC resolved that there is no turning back on decisions made at the Numsa SNC. We will prioritise the building of United Front Township based Political Discussion Forums. Building the United Front is central to the program to fight against neo-liberal policies and for a resolution to the South African crises that is in the interest of the working class. We have agreed that the UF must include in its agenda and objectives addressing gender relations and gender inequalities in our society.
Exploring the Movement for Socialism:
Numsa as part of its work towards exploring a movement for socialism, as decided by the SNC, will be hosting an International Symposium of Left Political Parties between the 7th and 10th August 2014. We are inviting 250 delegates to participate in the Numsa organised International Symposium to help us learn from our international allies and friends, both old and new. Comrades from all the different continents will be attending and range from Trade Unions who have set up worker parties to Communist and or Socialist parties.
Organisational Work:
Numsa Living Wage Campaign - Engineering and Eskom:
Steel & Engineering sector:
We held a press conference during our NEC on Thursday 26th June 2014 to inform the public about our intention to withdraw our labour in the steel and engineering sector due to the intransigent attitude of the bosses we are negotiating with. As we have still made no progress with the negotiations we are reminding everyone that our demands include:
- 15% wage increase (We have moved to 12%)
- 1 year bargaining agreement
- Scrapping of Labour Brokers
- Wage negotiations must benefit all workers irrespective of salaried or wage earners
- Extension of the scope of the Main Agreement; and
- Remove the short and layoff from the Main Agreement.
This strike follows a series of negotiations with the bosses, who remain stubborn and intransigent. The first phases of the negotiations took place on the week of March 26-27, 2014; the second phase on the week of April 16, 2014; third phase on the week of May 8-9, 2014; fourth phase on the week of May 21-23, 2014; fifth phase on week of May 28-29. On May 30, 2014 we declared a dispute with the employer bodies under the auspices of the Metal and Engineering Bargaining Council (MEIBC).
In these negotiations we were guided by our Bargaining Strategy underpinned by the following principles;
- Closing the colonial apartheid wage gap, fighting for equity in the workplace and demanding a Living Wage;
- No to downward variation to the worker's conditions of employment;
- The democratisation of the workplace;
- Reduce excessive pay for the Bosses;
- Developing the skills of the workforce that was deprived of that development during colonial-apartheid past; AND
- Use collective bargaining to organise the unorganised and thereby growing Numsa into a formidable fighting force.
The NEC has agreed to the decision from our members to embark on an indefinite strike action, beginning on July 01, 2014. This will see more than 220 000 workers belonging to our union embarking on strike action across the country. The decision to embark on the strike action was solicited through a democratic and transparent process, owing to our founding traditions of being a worker-controlled and democratic trade union.
This was not an easy decision, but a painful one, since the principle of No Work No Pay, will be applied by the intransigent bosses. It has never been in our agenda to call a strike; this strike has been imposed on us. Ours is to use the strike, as part of a tactic to exert organisational pressure to the bosses, to return to the table and present an offer acceptable to our members.
We are not working on Tuesday 1st July 2014
A number of marches and plant based protests will be taking place across the country next week Tuesday July 01, 2014. Numsa calls on all workers, the unemployed in the working class communities and other progressive organisations to stand in solidarity with Engineering/Metals workers in the common struggle for a Living Wage and decent life.
Number of marches and deployment of NOB's
Numsa will start its strike on 1st July with a march in 6 centres led by its National Office Bearers:
(a) KwaZulu-Natal: General Secretary
(b) Cape Town: Deputy General Secretary
(c) Gauteng: President
(d) Port Elizabeth: National Treasurer
(e) East London: 1st Deputy President
In addition we have invited the other unions in this sector to give messages of support at the march
Routes of the Marches:
1) KwaZulu-Natal, Durban: starts at King Dinizulu Park (opposite Durban Christian Centre) at 09hooam, and then proceeds to Durban City Hall.
2) Western Cape, Cape Town: starts at Keizergracht at District 6 and moves to the employers office at the foreshore
3) Western Cape, George: starts at Tembelethu to the MEIBC offices
4) Gauteng, Johannesburg: starts at Mary Fitzgerald Square in Newtown at 09h00am and then proceeds to 42 Anderson Street in Marshalltown to deliver a memorandum to the employers' organization
5) Eastern Cape, Port Elizabeth: starts at Centenary Hall, New Brighton at 09h00am, and then proceeds to Vuyisile Mini Square, Central Business District (CBD), Port Elizabeth
6) Eastern Cape, East London: starts at North End Stadium, East London, at 10h00, and then proceeds to the provincial offices of the Department of Labour (DoL), Hill Street, East London
Eskom:
Wage deadlock in Eskom:
Eskom a state entity with a bloated management continues to ensure that the management of the public utility receives big salaries, bonuses, grand office space and massive perks BUT consider the workers who are the real generators of electricity as people who do not deserve a living wage.
The Numsa National Executive Committee having considered that Numsa members in Eskom are receiving the short end of the stick, resolved that Numsa members in Eskom will picket on 2 July 2014 at the Eskom Head Office in support of the following Numsa demands:
1. Duration : 1 year agreement
2. Salary/Wage increases : 12% across the board
3. Housing Allowance : R 1000.00
4. Incentive Scheme : 16%
5. Standby Allowance : R 100.00
Numsa members in Eskom are not be deterred by the Essential Service designation because management should have a long time ago put in place a minimum service agreement. Public utilities continue to be places where the top management enrich themselves at the expense of quality service delivery and the improvement of working conditions.
We shall call on Cosatu affiliates and Numsa's United Front allies to join metalworkers in our Living Wage Campaign and the struggle for decent jobs, outlawing of labour brokers and an end to casualization. We call on all our members to join the different strikes in their respective workplaces and to do so with discipline and unity.
Numsa Recruitment campaign
The NEC committed itself to the overall target to 400 000 members by November 2014 and is conscious of the fact that it must be accompanied by quality service delivery and in this regard shall put a number of measures in place to ensure that our members are prioritized and treated with respect.
Conclusion
The Numsa NEC ended on a high note and agreed that it was back to basics as a union so as to ensure strong union structures in the workplace in all sectors. We will endeavor to ensure that our unity is sacrosanct and that we remain committed to struggling against all neo-liberal policies as they affect our members in particular and the working class in general.
Irvin Jim, General Secretary
Karl Cloete, Deputy General Secretary
Andrew Chirwa, President
Christine Olivier, 1st Deputy President
Basil Cele, 2nd Deputy President
Mphumzi Maqungo, National Treasurer
Statement issued by the NUMSA NEC, June 29 2014
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