Free download from www.hsrcpress.ac.za Published by HSRC Press Private Bag X9182, Cape Town, 8000, South Africa www.hsrcpress.ac.za © 2006 Human Sciences Research Council First published 2006 All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers. ISBN 0-7969-2127 X Typeset by Stacey Gibson Cover design by Jenny Young Print management by comPress Distributed in Africa by Blue Weaver PO Box 30370, Tokai, Cape Town, 7966, South Africa Tel: +27 (0) 21 701 4477 Fax: +27 (0) 21 701 7302 email: orders@blueweaver.co.za www.oneworldbooks.com Distributed in Europe and the United Kingdom by Eurospan Distribution Services (EDS) 3 Henrietta Street, Covent Garden, London, WC2E 8LU, United Kingdom Tel: +44 (0) 20 7240 0856 Fax: +44 (0) 20 7379 0609 email: orders@edspubs.co.uk www.eurospanonline.com Distributed in North America by Independent Publishers Group (IPG) Order Department, 814 North Franklin Street, Chicago, IL 60610, USA Call toll-free: (800) 888 4741 All other enquiries: +1 (312) 337 0747 Fax: +1 (312) 337 5985 email: frontdesk@ipgbook.com www.ipgbook.com Free download from www.hsrcpress.ac.za Contents List of tables and figures v Acknowledgements viii Acronyms and abbreviations x 1 Introduction: Cosatu and the first ten years of democratic transition in South Africa 1 Sakhela Buhlungu 2 Trade unions and the challenge of the informalisation of work 21 Edward Webster 3 Broadening internal democracy with a diverse workforce: challenges and opportunities 45 Geoffrey Wood and Pauline Dibben 4 Union democracy, parliamentary democracy and the 2004 elections 75 Janet Cherry and Roger Southall 5 The marginalisation of women unionists during South Africa’s democratic transition 97 Malehoko Tshoaedi and Hlengiwe Hlela 6 Cosatu and black economic empowerment 115 Roger Southall and Roger Tangri 7 Workers and policy-making 143 Janet Cherry 8 Cosatu, alliances and working-class politics 167 Devan Pillay Free download from www.hsrcpress.ac.za 9 Conclusion: Cosatu and the democratic transformation of South Africa 199 Sakhela Buhlungu, Roger Southall and Edward Webster Afterword 219 Roger Southall, Edward Webster and Sakhela Buhlungu Appendix 227 Taking Democracy Seriously Survey Dataset 1994, 1998 and 2004 Contributors 249 Index 251 Free download from www.hsrcpress.ac.za List of tables and figures Tables Table 1.1 Cosatu regions covered in surveys 4 Table 1.2 Taking Democracy Seriously, researchers 1994, 1998 and 2004 5 Table 1.3 Age profile of Cosatu members, 1994, 1998, 2004 8 Table 1.4 Occupational category as defined by the company 8 Table 1.5 Security of tenure (2004 only) 9 Table 1.6 Highest formal educational levels 10 Table 1.7 Gender distribution 11 Table 1.8 Year in which respondents joined unions 12 Table 3.1 Frequency of participation in union meetings, by percentage 55 Table 3.2 Means by which position of shop steward was attained, by percentage 56 Table 3.3 Frequency of shop steward elections, by percentage 56 Table 3.4 Means of election of shop stewards, by percentage 56 Table 3.5 The appropriate mandate for shop stewards, by percentage 57 Table 3.6 Consultation by shop stewards, by percentage 57 Table 3.7 Right of recall, by percentage 58 Table 3.8 Incidence of removal of shop stewards in respondents’ workplaces, by percentage 58 Table 3.9 Attendance at union meetings by security of tenure, by percentage 59 Table 3.10 Security of tenure by experience of having a shop steward removed by workers, by percentage 59 Table 3.11 Age and time of last participation in shop steward elections, by percentage 60 v Free download from www.hsrcpress.ac.za Table 3.12 Gender versus attendance of union meetings, by percentage 61 Table 3.13 Union membership and mandate of shop steward, percentage by union 62 Table 3.14 Experience of having removed a shop steward, percentage by union 62 Table 3.15 Attendance at union meetings, percentage by union 63 Table 5.1 Percentage of women shop stewards, 2004 survey 101 Table 5.2 Frequency of union meeting attendance, percentage by gender 102 Table 5.3 Knowledge of what GEAR, Nedlac and RDP are, percentage by gender 102 Table 5.4 Views on the Tripartite Alliance, percentage by gender 103 Table 6.1 Perceptions about the primary goal of Black Economic Empowerment, by percentage 119 Table 7.1 Improvement or provision of services since the 1998 and 2004 elections, by percentage 161 Table 7.2 Representation of interests by a political party that draws the majority of its supporters from workers, by percentage, 2004 survey 163 Table 7.3 What workers will do if the government fails to deliver services, by percentage 165 Table 8.1 Cosatu members’ perceptions of service delivery in area of residence, by percentage 173 Table 8.2 Union density and Cosatu presence, 2002 (percentages rounded off) 175 Table 8.3 Cosatu members’ attitudes towards the Alliance, by percentage 178 Table 8.4 Support for Alliance to continue after the next election, by percentage 179 Table 8.5 Expectations of workers’ preferred political party, by percentage 179 TRADE UNIONS AND DEMOCRACY vi Free download from www.hsrcpress.ac.za Table 8.6 Expectations of political party accountability to supporters, by percentage 180 Table 8.7 Workers’ trust in political parties (and trade unions), by percentage 180 Table 8.8 Cosatu representation in the national Parliament, by percentage 181 Table 8.9 Workers’ responses if government fails to deliver, by percentage 181 Table 8.10 Community support for industrial action, by percentage 185 Table 8.11 Active links with community/civil society/social movements, by percentage 185 Table 8.12 Options facing the labour movement in South Africa 188 Table 9.1 Union/party relations in Zimbabwe 201 Figures Figure 2.1 The changing social structure of the labour market 23 Figure 2.2 An assessment of attempts at organising informal work 37 Figure 4.1 Worker voting preference for the ANC by province, 2004 78 Figure 4.2 Worker support for the Tripartite Alliance by province, 2004 80 Figure 4.3 Changing worker attitudes to the Tripartite Alliance 81 Figure 4.4 Political allegiances: Cosatu survey versus national election results 82 Figure 4.5 Consistency of workers’ views on the need for trade unions 83 Figure 4.6 Worker responses if government fails to deliver 93 LIST OF TABLES AND FIGURES vii Free download from www.hsrcpress.ac.za Acknowledgements This book is the outcome of a joint research project between the Sociology of Work Unit (SWOP) at the University of the Witwatersrand and the Democracy and Governance Research Programme of the Human Sciences Research Council (HSRC). The research process went through several stages, and the assistance of many individuals and institutions deserves special acknowledgement. From the beginning Roger Southall and Eddie Webster were instrumental in conceptualising the study and designing the research plan. We were fortunate to be joined by a formidable team of researchers and scholars including some from the 1994 and 1998 phases of the Cosatu time-series survey. Then Roger Tangri and Freek Schiphorst joined the project as our Dutch partners based at the Institute of Social Studies in The Hague. All of these scholars brought expertise that added depth to the study. Cosatu general secretary, Zwelinzima Vavi, and David Jarvis, the then acting director of Cosatu’s labour policy research agency, NALEDI, kindly wrote us letters of introduction which helped open many doors when our fieldworkers visited workplaces and union offices to administer the survey. Students at the Universities of the Witwatersrand, Port Elizabeth, Fort Hare and the Western Cape, as well as individuals in Durban and Port Elizabeth who administered the questionnaire to hundreds of workers, acquitted themselves with exceptional professionalism and faced the task with admirable enthusiasm. In the Western Cape Anthea Metcalfe did an excellent job of co- ordinating the survey. At SWOP, Khayaat Fakier took care of project administration and financial aspects while Hlengiwe Hlela co-ordinated the implementation of the research plan, including overseeing the activities of the fieldworkers. Shameen Govender provided excellent administrative support for the project. The HSRC’s Democracy and Governance Research Programme made a financial contribution towards the analysis of the survey data, and the bulk of funding for the study came from the South Africa Netherlands Research Programme on Alternatives in Development. viii TRADE UNIONS AND DEMOCRACY Free download from www.hsrcpress.ac.za Staff at the HSRC press, particularly Utando Baduza, Mary Ralphs and Karen Bruns were extremely helpful and supportive. I would like to express my sincere appreciation to all these individuals and institutions, and to many others not mentioned by name here. But it is the workers who are the subject of this study who deserve the greatest tribute for giving us privileged access into their world. Finally, I would like to thank my family – Nokusa, Siyabulela and Simnikiwe – for their understanding and support throughout the duration of this project. Sakhela Buhlungu Editor ix ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Free download from www.hsrcpress.ac.za Acronyms and abbreviations ANC African National Congress APF Anti-Privatisation Forum Azapo Azanian People’s Organisation BCEA Basic Conditions of Employment Act of 1997 BEE Black Economic Empowerment BIG Basic Income Grant CEC Central Executive Committee CEPPWAWU Chemical, Energy, Paper, Printing, Wood and Allied Workers’ Union CNETU Council of Non-European Trade Unions Cosatu Congress of South African Trade Unions CWU Communication Workers’ Union DA Democratic Alliance ETT Electoral Task Team FAWU Food and Allied Workers’ Union Fedusa Federation of Unions of South Africa Fosatu Federation of South African Trade Unions GEAR Growth, Employment and Redistribution Strategy GNU Government of National Unity ICU Industrial and Commercial Workers’ Union of South Africa IFP Inkatha Freedom Party IMATU Independent Municipal and Allied Trade Union JSE Johannesburg Securities Exchange LPM Landless People’s Movement LRA Labour Relations Act of 1995 MP Member of Parliament Naledi National Labour and Economic Development Institute NEC National Executive Committee x TRADE UNIONS AND DEMOCRACY Free download from www.hsrcpress.ac.za [...]... Communist Party South African Congress of Trade Unions South African Democratic Teachers’ Union South African Municipal Workers’ Union South African National Civic Organisation South African Society of Bank Officials South African Transport and Allied Workers’ Union Soweto Electricity Crisis Committee Self-Employed Women’s Union Small Medium and Micro Enterprise Southern African Clothing and Textile Workers’... cent in only two unions – the South African Commercial, Catering and Allied Workers’ Union (Saccawu) and the South African Society of Bank Officials In this chapter I identify the new forms of work that are emerging due to restructuring I begin by suggesting that the restructuring of the labour market is leading to a crisis of representation for trade unions (Webster & Buhlungu 2004) I then examine Cosatu s... time 604 92.21 9 TRADE UNIONS AND DEMOCRACY Webster discusses the broader implications of this finding in Chapter 2 of this book Suffice it to say that in future, Cosatu and other unions could find themselves increasingly isolated from the rest of the working class, particularly from the new movements formed to mobilise against the effects of economic liberalisation on the working poor and the unemployed... public sector and white workers, particularly in unions such as the South African Democratic Teachers’ Union, the Democratic Nurses’ Organisation of South Africa and the South African Society of Bank Officials, some of which affiliated to Cosatu after the 1994 and 1998 surveys, probably accounts for this dramatic increase in educational levels But even the traditional Cosatu unions have been gaining members... around labour relations and labour market policies to broader social and economic changes that have benefited the entire working class and provided South Africa with a model of participatory democracy Indeed, together with other organisations in civil society, trade unions continue to play this role as custodians of the interests of the working class in South Africa However, unions have also been impacted... Although the findings point to a remarkable continuity in workers’ political attitudes, the authors argue that there are also indications of dissatisfaction with the present dispensation The discussion in Chapter 5 focuses on the marginal role and position of women in Cosatu since 1994 and how gender issues often get subsumed under racial and class equity considerations In the 2004 survey, the attitudes. .. of the Witwatersrand Ginsberg D, Webster E, Southall R, Wood G, Buhlungu S, Maree J, Cherry J, Haines R & Klerck G (1995) Taking Democracy Seriously: Worker expectations of parliamentary democracy in South Africa Durban: Indicator Press Hindson D & Crankshaw O (1990) New jobs, new skills, new divisions: The changing structure of South Africa s workforce South African Labour Bulletin 15(1): 23–31 Hobsbawm... importance of co-ordination and administration In particular, such studies require relatively centralised systems of co-ordination and administration, and meticulous record-keeping In the past we had rather weak administration and record-keeping systems and we often found ourselves relying on individual members of the research team for documents and files We have begun to address this by placing all records... CHAPTER 2 Trade unions and the challenge of the informalisation of work Free download from www.hsrcpress.ac.za Edward Webster The liberalisation of the economy and the informalisation1 of work are having a profound but uneven impact on employment and the labour movement They are leading to a growing differentiation of work, creating new lines of social inclusion and exclusion in post-apartheid South Africa. 2... the country interviewing Cosatu officials and activists about unions and the elections (Buhlungu 1994; Ginsberg et al 1995) From a researcher’s point of view, 1994 was an interesting year indeed Through the project we were able to capture a crucial moment in South Africa s transition, as it was unfolding In a nutshell, we managed to feel the pulse of organised labour as it went about putting its stamp . of co-ordination and administration, and meticulous record-keeping. In the past we had rather weak administration and record-keeping systems and we often. data, and the bulk of funding for the study came from the South Africa Netherlands Research Programme on Alternatives in Development. viii TRADE UNIONS AND